Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, is effectively the blueprints of your body. It contains information about the way your organs should grow, the colour of your hair and eyes, and just about everything else which forms you. With these tiny instruction manuals being so powerful, it makes sense that medical organisations around the world are trying to harness them, and this is where this post comes in. To give you an idea of the power science has over your DNA, this post will be exploring some of the recent advancements which are powering researching is this field.
Genetic Sequencing
Understanding how DNA works is a very complicated task, and is something which a lot of scientists have dedicated their lives to. The way that DNA interacts with other materials and substances is often unexpected. This makes it hard for researchers to come up with reliable theories, and forces them to spend a lot of time testing the ideas they have, though this has gotten a lot easier since the introduction of options like ChIP-Seq. But, what is ChIP-Seq? This system is designed for testing the way that proteins work with DNA, and can provide quality results in very little time.
Genetic Modification
Of course, learning about DNA is only the start of this journey, and the real work begins when it comes to changing DNA. Over the last few years, a number of labs have managed to achieve big things with their work with genetics. Back in 2018, a Chinese scientist claimed to have altered the DNA of two girls before their birth. With alterations like this having the power to delete diseases, disabilities, and other conditions, it makes sense that a lot of researchers are turning their attention to it. There is an ethical side to this, though, and this makes it hard to know whether or not it’s a good idea to play with DNA.
Modifying Other Genes
DNA isn’t something which is unique to humans, with most of the life on Earth being based around this system. This means that bacteria could also be changed with genetic research, enabling people to well and truly wipe diseases off the face of the earth. Of course, though, this isn’t an easy task, and choosing which diseases to target is a challenge in itself. As time goes on, it will become a lot more common for people to have genetic modifications, and even more common that you will be protected by this sort of science, too.
With all of this in mind, you should be feeling inspired to start looking into the technology behind modern medicine. This field is always growing, and, as a result, is becoming more interesting as the years go by. There are loads of places you can learn about this sort of work across the web, and you may even be able to find a route into a career in this field if you work hard enough. The world is changing, and so is the way people think about medicine.
