SO, FIRST, WHAT ARE GENES?
Genes are the basic units of inheritance and are made up of DNA (Deoxy-Ribose-Nucleic Acid)
An INTERESTING FACT about Genes :-
Genes can disappear from our body as Species evolve!
For eg-
At some point before, humans used to produce their own Vitamin C. But we lost that ability over the course of time as one of those genes stopped working long ago.
Another Example-
Humans also lost hundreds of odorant receptors (the protein produced by genes which detect different smells) over time because we mostly rely on vision, explaining our weak sense of smell now as compared to animals.
NOW THAT GENES ARE MADE UP OF DNA, WHAT IS DNA?
DNA is a molecule that contains the genetic code of organisms.
DNA is in each cell of the body of an organism and it tells the cells what protein is to be made.
It is also the hereditary material in humans. So, the DNA of the father and the mother goes to the son/daughter resulting in similar characteristics between the parents and the daughter/son.
Also, an interesting FACT :-
All humans are 99.9% alike. The remaining 0.1% makes up for the difference.
HOW MANY GENES DO WE HUMANS HAVE AND WHAT DO THEY DO?
Humans, on an average have 20,000 to 25,000 genes in their body.
While, the animal with the most genes is Daphnia (It is a tiny water Flea) with 31,000 genes in their body.
Genes contain instructions in them which tell the cells how to make proteins.
Each gene itself carries instructions which determine body features such as height, hair colour, eye colour etc.
WHICH IS THE MOST COMMON AND THE LARGEST GENE IN HUMANS ?
ApoE-e3 (Apolipoprotein E) is found in more than 50% of the general population of the world, making it the most common gene in humans.
The Human Dystrophin Gene is the largest gene in humans as it contains 79 exons (portion of gene which codes for amino acids) and has a size of at least 2,300 kilobases (kb). [Kilobases is a unit of measuring the length of DNA which is equal to 1,000 nucleotide bases (base pairs of DNA)].
“SUPERPOWERS”
Even though the presence of some extra genes is possible;
Sometimes it may cause “superpowers” to develop in humans.
For eg- (Also, I’ll also rate them out of 10 on my basis, feel free to let me know in the comments how would you rate these)
- ACTN3 (The Super-Sprinter Variant)
Humans, themselves have a gene called “ACTN3” but some variants of it make a special protein known as “Alpha-Actinin-3”. This protein controls muscle-fibres, the cells responsible for the tensing and flexing of the muscles. The people which have more of ACTN3 have better muscle movement and run faster than average people.
RATING- 9/10 [I don’t like running 🙂, but it would be cool to run faster than everyone 😉] - hDEC2 (The Super-Sleeper mutation)
Everyone has a gene called “hDEC2”. This gene controls our sleep. But when this gene mutates, it causes changes in our body. It effects our sleep and you might end up sleeping for a very short time (4 hours). Now , you might think that it is bad, but actually after your “Short Sleep” you will feel as energetic as you would normally feel after waking up! So cool!
RATING- 6/10 [Sometimes, I would really like this 👍, but I am a bit lazy and I like to sleep 👎] - TAS2R38 (Bitter Life)
Those people really have a bitter life. Some people taste food wayyy more intensely than the rest of the people. So, For example a person with TAS2R38 is drinking a bitter coffee which an average person can easily drink. This coffee would be SO bitter to them that they can’t even drink it. 😲
RATING- 1/10 [Legitimately the worst.🤮 Don’t even want to talk about how my life would become if this happened to me.🤐] - LRP5 (Superman’N’Antman)
Imagine being Superman! But this type of Superman won’t give you every single power on Earth, instead, it would give you (drumroll in background) UNBREAKABLE BONES 🦴 ! There are 2 types of mutations for this. Number one, Giving you unbreakable bones (Superman) ; Number two, Giving you weak bones (Antman). The function of the LRP5 gene is to regulate bone-mineral density.
RATING- 5/10 [10/10 for becoming S.U.P.E.R.M.A.N, 0/10 for becoming a.n.t.m.a.n ; So, mean = (10+0)/2=10/2=5]
