DNA~Discovery Now Applied!!

Another one of my walks in Mosaic Land led me to a bizarre place...
A place full of Chimeras....
I saw a rabbit with scales,
A fish flying with eagle's wings
Dogs slithering on the ground
Dragons roaming on the sky above...


Genetics is a field of study discovered by Johann Gregor Mendel during the late 1850s to the early 1860s.
By planting 34 different kinds of pea plants and noting the differences between them, Mendel was able to classify the plants characteristics.

Gregor Mendel   http://mrswashingtondms.ccsd1.wikispaces.net/file/view/mendel.gif/33406183/mendel.gif

The characteristics inherited by the pea plants, such as height, pods, color of the pea, and color of the flowers, are then classified into dominant and recessive traits.

Mendel believes that all these traits are passed down from one generation to the next by means of a particle. However, he has no idea, that the particle mentioned in his study are actually what we, today call genes.

Crick and Watson http://www.flyfishingdevon.co.uk/salmon/year3/psy339evolutionarypsychologyroots/watson-crick-dna.jpg

In 1944, an American scientist, Thomas Avery suggested that genes might be found in cells of every organisms. However, before this theory was proved, a detailed study of the structure of the gene is needed. In London, 1954, Francis Crick, James Watson, and Rosalind Franklin succeeded in discovering the structure of the gene, or what we know today as DNA.

DNA Molecule http://www-jmg.ch.cam.ac.uk/tools/magnus/molecules/nucleic/dna1.jpg

The DNA molecule takes the shape of a double-helix, and is made up of four bases Adenine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine.

With four bases, the DNA can carry a lot of informations. Considering the fact that computers only use two bases - 0 and 1, DNA which uses four bases A, T, G and C can carry a lot more information than computers.

Now, forensic scientists uses DNA fingerprinting technology to solve crimes.
By matching the DNA materials found at crime scenes with the suspect's DNA, the perpetrator of the crime could easily be found.

Apart from that, DNA Technologies are now being used for genetic engineering to create hybrid organisms such as rice that could be harvested more times a year, disease resistance crop, and vaccines.

Biotechnology, a subject so mysterious, but so promising for our future...