Fundamentals of Genetics: Understanding Genes, Variation, and Genomics

Genetics is the study of genes and what they do; it is a branch of biology that deals with heredity and variation. At its core, genetic variation is the root of the natural diversity that we observe among members of the same species as well as among different species.

The Gene as a Unit of Heredity

A Gene is the "Unit of heredity", usually described according to the way it affects the traits or characteristics of an organism. Within the human biological structure, there are around 30,000-35,000 genes, yet less than 5 % of the genome is coded for.

Key Data on Human Genetics

Cellular Molecules and the Proteome

The largest cellular molecule in humans is DNA. However, life functions rely on several categories of larger cellular molecules:

• Nucleic acids (DNA, RNA)
• Proteins
• Carbohydrates and lipids

While proteins carry out cellular functions and processes, the Proteome refers to all the proteins that a cell makes at a given time or an organism's entire set of proteins.

Gene Expression and Regulation

Genes are categorized by how they are transcribed and used by the cell:

• Constitutive Gene: These are unregulated, found in different cell types, and are transcribed continually.
• Housekeeping Gene: These manage ongoing business (such as histones) and are continually made.

Elements of Genomics

Genomics is an important concept in the study of genetics. It encompasses the study of genes and involves a study to determine the location and sequence of every gene in the human genome. Furthermore, genomics includes a study to determine which genes are responsible for which proteins and allows researchers to compare the human genome with the chimpanzee genome.