Cool Cafe

All in the Genes

All in the Genes

 

The VTeen 4-H Science Pathways Café was thrilled to invite Dr. Debra Leonard, the chair of the University of Vermont Pathology Department, to speak about genes on March 30. We were extremely grateful that Dr. Leonard was able to take some time out of her busy schedule to teach us about how genomics and genetics are used to diagnose and treat diseases.

 

Dr. Leonard began with the basics of genetics and genomics: the structure and function of DNA, how it is arranged into chromosomes and genes, and how genes express themselves in genotype and phenotype. It was a helpful review for kids who had studied biology and a useful introduction for those who hadn’t. Most importantly, we learned how DNA replicates, how it is transcribed to form amino acids which make up proteins, and how mutations occur. Small errors in nucleotide bases may cause diseases such as sickle cell anemia or cystic fibrosis. Additionally, since half of an offspring’s genetic material comes from each parent, a person may have zero, one, or two instances of a mutated or undesirable gene. This means some traits have “carrier” states in which the carrier does not have the disease but has one copy of the affected gene that can be passed on. All of these complicated factors go into genomics, the study of the complete set of human genes (or genome).

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