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Domain |
Explanation |
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What gymnastics
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- Its Genetics
- Dictionary:
- The branch of biology that handles heredity (passing on certain biological traits down the generations) & variation in similar or related living things cells, plants or animals
- The biological constitution of an individual, kind or group
- The word genetics is made up of gene and tics (the cultivated studies of a subject matter)
- Like robotics is made up of robot and tics
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What genie
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- Its Gene, u bakayaro
- Dictionary:
- Any of the units occurring at specific points on the chromosome on which hereditary characters are transmitted & determined
- Each is regarded as a particular state of organisation of the chromatin in the chromosome
- In other words, a gene is a single carrier of living traits that give rise to the individual form
- It gets passed down through the generations through inheritance
- Genetics is really the thorough study of genes
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How does genomics differ from genetics? |
- According to the Genomic glossaries,
- Genetics looks at single genes, one at a time, as a snapshot. Genomics is trying to look at all the genes as a dynamic system, over time, to determine how they interact and influence biological pathways, networks and physiology, in a much more global sense. A dynamic process, 2D vs. 3D and 4D.
- Genetics is much more linear than genomics, complicated but not as complex as genomics. There is a whole lot more we need to understand, some of which we are only beginning to get glimpses of. It is exciting, but humbling to realize how much remains to be learned.
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What
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- Genes are like bits & pieces that form something when assembled correctly
- Take a model plane for example:
- Often if we buy or build the model plane from scratch, we have to source around for the right
- Before that, we have to have a plan of the model plane to be built
- Identify what the parts are (the pilot chamber, the fuselage, the wings, the tail, the engines or propellers)
- Where they are located
- How they are made (strength, materials, dimensions, surface)
- Assembly: how they fit together like a jigsaw puzzle
- Testing whether the model plane can actually fly
- Hence, genes can be thought of as if they are the parts of the model plane
- The gene by itself is not very useful
- But,
- When taken in combination with other genes, they can form structures that determine living traits to a large extent
- Another example is taking the whole in pieces: in Engineering, we are often faced with large, complex structures that are mind-boggling to interpret & understand,
- Hence, a common way of simplification is looking at the unit level - small physical composition of the whole structure
- By adhering to certain rules in breaking down the whole, large, complicated structure into its constituent parts, bits or units,
- We can have an easier time understanding the simple units
- In addition,
- The units can also be assembled back into the larger parts [sub-structures] of the whole structure
- This methodology is termed Finite Element Method
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What breaking down
joining up
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- It's like an idea, decomposing into smaller minute concepts
- Or it's like those stacked wood or virtual toys (Lego)
- Or it's like cutting the birthday cake
- From a distance, a ship on the ocean is a like a dot seen from the beach
- But
- At shorter distance, or the ship is rapidly approaching the beach,
- It gradually becomes larger, the dot expands, it takes shape, the water around it makes waves, u can hear its horn more loudly
- Maybe u can even see those onboard
- Or it's like those satellite pictures we see on papers or TV
- The Earth is really huge and we can only see white, blue oceans and brown land
- Yet, when the satellite zooms in on a place like Singapore (which is nothing but a microbial dot from space)
- The dot expands into the main island of Singapore: a flat kite shape
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Like from top looking down
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- Yes, a top-down panoramic view à Holism
- Genes are then like small islands everywhere on Earth
- From way up high in space, the entire Earth is like a ball of blue
- As we zoom downwards, Earth slowly unfolds its features - atmosphere, ocean, land
- Land is in bits & pieces - the smallest ones are islands
- In genetics, the genes are like the Earth's islands - small with their unique niches
- As opposed to the top-down view, we can also take a bottom-up or emergent view à Reductionism
- The genes (islands) form DNA, RNA, proteins (peninsulas) form ribosome, chromatin, mitochondrion (continents) form cells (planets) within the living organism (Universe)
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Top down
bottom up
sounds tangled |
- Yes, it is the spiral of life as it goes on changing & evolving
- Just like a dual-directional traffic carriageway, the way of life is dual in nature in either direction
- Yet,
- In these extreme opposing directions, amidst diversity, we arrive the same equivalent life - The Book of Life, edited by Stephen Jay Gould
- This is the aspect of unity of life
- As identified by Mahlon Hoagland in The Way Life Works,
- There can be 16 patterns to life as follows:
- Life builds from the bottom up: a natural molecular hierarchy through groupings
- Life assembles itself into chains: a band of "rubber"
- Life needs an inside & an outside: Yin & Yang
- Life uses a few themes to generate many variations: natural mathematical combinations
- Life organizes with information: making the parts to make the whole; decomposing the whole to retrieve the parts
- Life encourages variety by reshuffling information: interchange produces wide variations
- Life creates with mistakes: accidents break "norms"
- Life occurs in water: fluidity ensures flow
- Life runs on sugar: the fuel of life, its production, storage, usage & transmission
- Life works in cycles: circular adaptation through self-regulation & self-correction
- Life recycles everything it uses: circular flow of materials
- Life maintains itself by turnover, repair & replacement
- Life tends to optimize rather than maximize: to reach balance & avoid extremes
- Life is opportunistic: always pursuing niches
- Life competes within a cooperative framework: the resultant emergent harmony (SO: system optimal) between competitive self-interested individuals (UE: user equilibrium)
- Life is interconnected & interdependent: interactive network that is mutually sustaining
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Patterns here & there
where may I learn more? |
- Genomic glossaries
- Beginner's guide to biology, Rothamstead Research, BBSRC, UK, 1997-2002
- DNA Learning Center, DNA Lab, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, US A clearinghouse for information on DNA science, genetic medicine, and biotechnology, to provide an interactive learning environment for students, teachers, and nonscientists, extending the Laboratory's traditional research and postgraduate education mission to the college, precollege, and public levels.
- Genetic Science Learning Center, University of Utah Eccles Institute of Human Genetics and School of Medicine and Utah Museum of Natural History, 2001. Covers basic genetics, genetic disorders, genetics & society and genetic thematic units.
- DNA from the beginning
- Morgan genetics tutorial
- Genomics and Its Impact on Medicine and Society: A Primer
- DOE HGP Genomics Primers
- BAC FAQ
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Lessons? |
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