Genome Summary #8 Chromosome 19 Prevention

Diseases that had no cure and now do, there is a responsibility for us to treat and prevent those diseases when we now have to knowledge to. With the example of coronary heart disease, Ridley explains that the disease develops and integrates the APO genes and APOE which helps control the metabolism of fats and cholesterol and the genetic testing could help doctors to suggest healthy eating and exercise habits depending on the person's APO genes. Alzheimer's disease has a large connection to APOE and the E4 allele, it contributes to the buildup in brain cells. Doctors will be able to use genetic tests for diagnoses and prescriptions but it can be harmful when releasing genetic information to insurance companies and the government.

Genome Summary #7 Chromosome 18 Cures

Ridley talks about genetic manipulations with the experiments involving recombinant DNA. Paul Berg made the first man-made recombinant DNA by using restriction enzymes and ligase. The experiments using recombinant DNA where a retrovirus would be stripped of its infectious genes and replaced with a desired gene, then injected into the body, directly or through cultured cell, trying to cure carious diseases through gene therapy. From the use of embryonic stem cells and recombinant DNA there are possibilities of human cloning with genetic improvements.

Genome Summary #6 Chromosome 6 Intelligence

The search for the intelligence gene was done by a study done on the genes of a group of high IQ children. There was a difference on the gene IGF2R on chromosome 6. Intelligence genes do not need environmental stimulation for them to work. In the chapter, Ridley discusses that there were studies done on separated twins which shows that there is heritability to intelligence and personality, and no correlation between IQ scores of adopted children living in the same family. Intelligence genes are also more expressive later in life because people start choosing their own environments and comfort zones so they have more ways to express themselves.

Genome Summary #5 Chapter 5 Environment

Genetic inheritance can be based on the environment of the individual. Chromosome 5 includes the asthma gene  and it can't be simplified to a genetic level. Asthma can be related to allergies and the disorder has been increasing. Factors that are making asthma increase can be because of pollution from synthetic chemical and excessive hygiene. Many have been looking for the asthma gene and the closest genes to an asthma-causing gene are the two genes that produce immunoglobulin-E. the protein comes in different forms and is involved with the release of histamine in the body. The genes linked to asthma are a different gene for each ethnicity and the cause of the disorder is attributed most to the environment of the one carrying it.

Genome Summary #4 Chapter 4 Fate

In Chapter 4 Ridley compares identifying genes by the diseases that they can cause to identifying organs by the disorders they can suffer in order to show the differences of a gene and a mutation. For example, the Wolf- Hirschhorn is when individuals with the gene are healthy and those without the gene have Wolf- Hirschhorn syndrome and those with the mutated gene have Huntington's chorea. In 1993 the gene that was responsible for the mutation for Huntington's disease was found and it carried a repetition of the codon CAG. The number of repetitions tells what age the carrier gets the symptoms. When excess CAG repeats, five other neurological disorders and twelve known human diseases can occur. In sperm production the number of repetitions can increase over time.