SS Connection

My project on Biology is about DNA. The discovery of DNA has essentially led to breakthrough drugs and treatments for patients with serious illnesses. ON this page, I will post my SS connection showing how DNA influenced the development of scientific and medical progress.

How DNA Influenced the World

DNA is hereditary material found in humans and most organisms DNA is usually found in the nucleus of an organism and is a code in cells that acts as a blueprint for how the rest of the cells should reproduce and form. DNA’s job is to also determine the traits of an organism.

DNA was discovered by several different people, but James Watson and Francis Crick are the ones who take most of the credit for the discovery. In 1869, a Swiss physiological chemist, named Friedrich Miescher first discovered DNA in human cells. Levene, a Russian biochemist, was the first to discover the order of the three major components of a single nucleotide. HE discovered the carbohydrate component of RNA and the carbohydrate component of DNA. He also was able to correctly identify the way RNA and DNA molecules are put together.

It was actually another scientist, Linus Pauling, and his work on the structure of bimolecular and hydrogen bonding that influenced Crick and Watson's study of DNA. In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the molecular structure of DNA. In 1962, Crick, Watson, and an associate, Maurice Wilkins, were awarded the Nobel Prize for their work on DNA.

The discovery of DNA explained the fundamental unit of inheritance, the genes and how they work. It also explained how it is replicated from one cell to the next and one generation to another. Scientists were now able to understand the molecular basis of the gene, and how it can be damaged. It also allowed them to understand how mutations in a gene can lead to harmful diseases or beneficial traits.

Scientists were also able to understand how to cure inherited diseases be studying diseases. By understanding how a gene can go wrong, scientists can figure out ways to fix a bad gene. In 2002, Rhys Evans was the first child in Britain, to be cured of an inherited disorder because of gene therapy. Gene therapy repairs a defective gene by adding a healthy version of the gene to it. Studying DNA has also given scientist the ability to predict inherited diseases, for example, Cancer.

The study of DNA doesn’t just help people with predicting or curing diseases. Forensic Scientists, gather and examine information, especially for the law enforcement in relation to criminal or civil law need to understand DNA and how it works to be able to do their job correctly. They are able to use DNA to help police catch murders by examining the different DNA in the crime scene.

DNA also allows us to be able to tell whether we are related to other people. People all over the world take DNA tests to test whether a child is really theirs or find parents they never met. DNA has also allowed us to have an idea of what area humans have originally come from. DNA analysis supports the view that early humans moved out of Africa less than 100,000 years ago. DNA tests on living people have also revealed other ethnic and ancestral origins that have been lost over time.

The study of DNA has affected the lives of every organism on the Earth. Without the understanding of DNA we wouldn’t know how to cure a lot of diseases and there would be a lot less people on the Earth. As technology advances we are able to study DNA in new ways allowing new discoveries to be made. The discovery of DNA has definitely affected the world in a positive way.

James Watson and Francis Crick