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Science | Geography | PSHE | Relationships and health

How to find out your entire genetic make-up

Should everyone get their genome sequenced? A new, handheld device could allow people to analyse their DNA from “the comfort of their own home”. But they might not like what they find… When scientists decided to sequence the human genome for the first time, it took them 13 years, more than 1,000 researchers, and $2.7 billion. The project was completed in 2003, when it was described as “one of the most exciting chapters of the book of life”. For the first time ever, scientists could read the entire DNA “recipe” for a single person. Fifteen years later, scientists are still learning how to interpret the information they read. It now takes around $1,000 and a well-stocked lab to sequence someone’s genome. But maybe not for much longer: a company in Oxford has invented a small device, the size of a mobile phone, that could soon offer genome sequencing “as a routine tool, perhaps something people can do in their own home,” according to one scientist. The details of its first successful attempt were published on Monday. The device works by passing DNA strands through a tiny hole called a “nanopore”. There are four proteins that build the genes in our DNA, symbolised by the letters A, C, G and T. As they pass through the machine, they each give off an electrical signal, which can be read and recorded until scientists have the person’s full genetic information. The human genome is complex. We each have around 20,000 genesSections of DNA strands that act as a kind of instruction manual for a human being. There is still a great deal we do not understand about how they work.. They decide things like our eye colour, the shape of our face, our predisposition for certain tastes or talents. They do not entirely determine who we are, because we are also shaped by our upbringing and environment. But they are a “blueprint”. When it comes to medicine, sometimes a single gene mutation can lead to a life-changing disorder, like cystic fibrosis or Huntington’s Disease. In other cases, our genes only tell us if we have a higher risk of developing a disease — such as Alzheimer’s — later in life. They can also tell us how we react to certain drugs. For this reason, scientists predict that genetics will become an increasingly important part of healthcare. But should everyone — including healthy people — get their genome sequenced? Can you handle the truth? Absolutely, say some. If you know you have a higher risk of developing a certain disease, you can start making lifestyle changes to reduce that risk. Parents could predict whether their children will inherit genetic problems. And the more people get it done, the more scientists will learn about how to read the results. Everybody wins. There is such a thing as too much information, argue others. Sometimes a genome reveals “faults” that have no actual effects. Someone could spend their whole life dreading a disease which never comes — or they could find out that it was inevitable, and feel hopeless in the face of that knowledge. It is better not to know. KeywordsGenes - Sections of DNA strands that act as a kind of instruction manual for a human being. There is still a great deal we do not understand about how they work.

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