Genetics is the science of genes, heredity, and the variation of organisms.
Humans began applying knowledge of genetics in prehistory with the domestication and breeding of plants and animals. In modern research, genetics provides important tools in the investigation of the function of a particular gene, e.g. analysis of genetic interactions. Within organisms, genetic information generally is carried in chromosomes, where it is represented in the chemical structure of particular DNA molecules.
Closely-related fields
The science which grew out of the union of biochemistry and genetics is widely known as molecular biology.
The term "genetics" is often widely conflated with the notion of genetic engineering, where the DNA of an organism is modified for some kind of practical end, but most research in genetics is aimed at understanding and explaining the effect of genes on phenotypes and in the role of genes in populations (see population genetics and ecological genetics), rather than genetic engineering. A more recent development is the rise of genomics, which attempts the study of large-scale genetic patterns across the genome for (and in principle, all the DNA in) a given species.
The study of inherited features not strictly associated with changes in the DNA sequence is called epigenetics.
Some take the view that life can be defined, in molecular terms, as the set of strategies which RNA polynucleotides have used and continue to use to perpetuate themselves. This definition grows out of work on the origin of life, specifically the RNA world hypothesis.
Brief history
It wasn't until 1865 that Gregor Mendel first traced inheritance patterns of certain traits in pea plants and showed that they obeyed simple statistical rules. Although not all features show this Mendelian inheritance, his work acted as a proof that application of statistics to inheritance could be highly useful. Since that time many more complex forms of inheritance have been demonstrated.
From his statistical analysis Mendel defined a concept that he described as an allele, which was the fundamental unit of heredity. The term allele as Mendel used it is nearly synonymous with the term gene, whilst the term allele now means a specific variant of a particular gene.
The significance of Mendel's work was not understood until early in the twentieth century, after his death, when his research was re-discovered by other scientists working on similar problems.
Mendel was unaware of the physical nature of the gene. We now know that genetic information is normally carried on DNA. (Certain viruses store their genetic information in RNA). Manipulation of DNA can in turn alter the inheritance and features of various organisms.
Genes encode the information necessary for synthesizing proteins, which, in turn play a large role in influencing, although, in many instances, do not completely determine, the final phenotype of the organism.
Timeline of notable discoveries in genetics
- 1859 Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of Species
- 1865 Gregor Mendel's paper, Experiments on Plant Hybridization
- 1903 Chromosomes are discovered to be hereditary units
- 1905 British biologist William Bateson coins the term "genetics" in a letter to Adam Sedgwick
- 1910 Chromosomes include genes
- 1918 Ronald Fisher publishes On the correlation between relatives on the supposition of Mendelian inheritance - the modern synthesis starts.
- 1913 Gene maps show chromosomes containing linear arranged genes
- 1927 Physical changes in genes are called mutations
- 1928 Frederick Griffith discovers a hereditary molecule that is transmissible between bacteria (see Griffiths experiment)
- 1931 Crossing over is the cause of recombination
- 1944 Oswald Theodore Avery, Colin McLeod and Maclyn McCarty isolate DNA as the genetic material (at that time called transforming principle)
- 1945 Genes code for proteins; see the original central dogma of genetics
- 1950 Erwin Chargaff shows that the four nucleotides are not present in nucleic acids in stable proportions, but that some general rules appear to hold (e.g., that the amount of adenine, A, tends to be equal to that of thymine, T).
- 1952 The Hershey-Chase experiment proves the genetic information of phages (and all other organisms) to be DNA
- 1953 DNA structure is resolved to be a double helix by James D. Watson and Francis Crick
- 1958 The Meselson-Stahl experiment demonstrates that DNA is semiconservatively replicated
- 1961 The genetic code is arranged in triplets
- 1977 DNA is sequenced
- 1997 First genome sequenced
- 2001 First draft sequences of the human genome are released simultaneously by the Human Genome Project and Celera Genomics.
- 2003 (14 April) Successful completion of Human Genome Project with 99% of the genome sequenced to a 99.99% accuracy [1] (http://www.genoscope.cns.fr/externe/English/Actualites/Presse/HGP/HGP_press_release-140403.pdf)
See also
Related topics
People working in genetic research
- Craig Venter
- Svante Pääbo
Companies related to genetic research
- Affymetrix, UK [2] (http://www.affymetrix.com/)
- Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA [3] (http://www.appliedbiosystems.com/)
- Celera Genomics
- Genentech, San Francisco, CA [4] (http://www.gene.com/)
- Applera Norwalk, CT [5] (http://www.applera.com/)
- Genetix, Hampshire, UK [6] (http://www.genetix.com)
- The NanoAging Institute, Québec, UK [7] (http://www.nanoaging.com)
Research institutes involved in genetics research
Americas
- Arizona, USA
- Translational Genomics Research Institute, Phoenix founded in July of 2002 [8] (http://www.tgen.org/about.html)
- Arkansas, USA
- Whitetail Genetic Research Institute, Jerusalem, [9] (http://www.buckgrub.com/abstract_1.html)
- California, USA
- Genetic Information Research Institute, Mountain View founded 1994 [10] (http://www.girinst.org/)
- Stanford University, Stanford, California [11] (http://www.stanford.edu/class/bio203/)
- Florida, USA
- University of Florida Genetics Institute, Miami [12] (http://www.ufgi.ufl.edu/)
- Maryland, USA
- The Institute of Genetic Research, founded in 1992 by Craig Venter
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase [13] (http://www.hhmi.org/)
- Massachusetts, USA
- Whitehead Institute Center for Genome Research, Cambridge, USA, [14] (http://www-genome.wi.mit.edu/)
- New York, USA
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, [15] (http://www.cshl.org/)
- Washington, DC, USA
- Research Institute for Genetic and Human Therapy - Instituto di Ricerca per la Terapia Genetica Umana, [16] (http://www.georgetown.edu/research/right/)
- USA
- Center for the Advancement of Genomics
- National Human Genome Research Institute founded 1989 [17] (http://www.nhgri.nih.gov/)
- Washington University, St. Louis, [18] (http://www.wustl.edu/)
Europe
- Austria
- Institut für Forstgenetik, Vienna [19] (http://fbva.forvie.ac.at/200/229.html)
- Germany
- Zentrum für genetische Forschung, (part of Max-Planck-Institute für Psychiatrie und Biochemie) München
- Institut für Humangenetik, Hamburg [20] (http://ihg.uke.uni-hamburg.de/index.de.php)
- Institut für Humangenetik, (Klinikum der Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg), Heidelberg [21] (http://www.med.uni-heidelberg.de/humangen/)
- Institut für Humangenetik, (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität), Erlangen-Nürnberg [22] (http://www.humgenet.uni-erlangen.de/2k/home.html)
- Institut für Humangenetik (Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität), Bonn [23] (http://www.meb.uni-bonn.de/humgen/institut.htm)
- Institut für Humangenetik, (Universität Lübeck), Lübeck [24] (http://www.humangenetik.mu-luebeck.de/index.html)
- Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin [25] (http://www.molgen.mpg.de/)
- European Molecular Biology Lab (EMBL), Heidelberg
- Italy
- International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, Maccarese (Fiumicino) [26] (http://www.ipgri.cgiar.org/)
- UK
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge [27] (http://www.gen.cam.ac.uk/)
- Imperial College Genetics and Genomics Research Institute, Hammersmith Hospital, London [28] (http://www.icggri.ic.ac.uk/at_ic.htm)
Asia/Pacific
- Australia
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation [29] (http://www.csiro.au)
- Hong Kong
- Chinese University of Hong Kong, [30] (http://www.bio.cuhk.edu.hk/bio/)
- Hong Kong Institute of Biotechnology, [31] (http://www.hkib.org.hk/)
- Institute of Molecular Biology, Hong Kong, [32] (http://www.hku.hk/hkuimb/)
- China
- Beijing Genomics Institute, Beijing , Beijing Genomics Institute website (http://www.genomics.org.cn/bgi/english2/index.htm)
- The National Human Genome Centre in Southern China, Shanghai
- The National Human Genome Centre in Northern China, Beijing
- Huada Human Genome Research Centre
- Bio Island Haizhu, Guangzhou [33] (http://www.bioisland.com.cn/)
- The Human Genome Centre of the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS)
- Singapore
- Biopolis, Singapore [34] (http://www.biopolis.com.sg/)
- Genome Institute of Singapore [35] (http://www.gis.a-star.edu.sg/)
- Bioinformatik Institute, Singapore [36] (http://www.bii-sg.org/)
- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology [37] (http://www.imcb.a-star.edu.sg/)
- Bioinformatics Center, Singapore [38] (http://www.bic.nus.edu.sg/)
Africa
- Kenya
- International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, [39] (http://www.cgiar.org/)
Genetic research watchdog organizations
- GeneWatch [40] (http://www.genewatch.org), UK
- Smallpox Bio Security [41] (http://www.smallpoxbiosecurity.org/) Conference 21-22 Oct 2003, Geneva, Switzerland
- Sunshine Project [42] (http://www.sunshine-project.de/), Hamburg, Germany and Austin, |TX
External links
Related publications
- The NanoAging Institute [45] (http://www.nanoaging.com/)
Associations
| Subfields of genetics
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| Classical genetics | Ecological genetics | Molecular genetics | Population genetics | Quantitative genetics
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| Related topics: Genomics | Reverse genetics
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General subfields within biology
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| Anatomy | Bioinformatics | Botany | Ecology | Evolutionary biology | Genetics | Marine biology | Human biology | Cell biology | Microbiology | Molecular biology | Biochemistry | Origin of life | Paleontology | Physiology | Taxonomy | Xenobiology | Zoology
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