Photo Credits: Mayo Clinic News Network

To understand DNA isn’t as difficult as some may think, it’s actually quite simple, DNA is all around you, its what you see when you look at someone or something. From the dog on the street, the birds that fly in the air, to the friend with long hair and blue eyes. Its even possible to get DNA from the dead providing that the structure is preserved. That’s basically DNA, your DNA is what makes you, you. It also gives a timeline of your heritage and its experience. And what makes Sally, Sally. What makes an elephant, an Elephant. To put a more scientific touch to it, DNA is a self-replicating material that is made up of ‘deoxyribonucleic acid’ hence the acronym “DNA” that appears like a thread-like chain known as double helix that contains all the instruction used for growth, development, functioning and reproduction of the organism.

Photo Credits: Basics of DNA

Without getting to technical in the jargons, this information is vital for the survival of the organism and contains information that’s unique and specific for that organism. Let’s dive into some possible scenarios where knowing your DNA would be a bonus.
The fact that someone says, ‘you look like your grandmother or mother’ means that something your grandmother or mother has was pass down to you. Through that pass down process each offspring inherit one gene from his mother and one gene from his father. Some of you may say, now I am lost with the word gene, so what is a gene?

Photo Credits: Genetics Home Reference - NIH

A gene is sequence of DNA/RNA which codes for a particular molecule. This molecule can be a protein that carries an important function in the cell. For now don’t worry too much about RNA but understand the elegant design of DNA and how it passes from one person to the offspring. What is important to understand is the fact that genes can be faulty or what is better called ‘mutation’. These mutation can now be pass down and cause problems in the offspring. Another point to note, all mutation aren’t bad some are actually good and affords some offspring advantages compared to the general population. Some mutation are actually quite special, they act as identifiers/ markers, in fact, if you looking at a particular gene and spot a mutation, you can concluded where that person came from without know anything about that person. The main point I am trying to bring across, your DNA tells a history and gives unique insights of possible phenotypic expression.

This is part 1, in a series of blogs I intend on writing. If you enjoyed this blog, give it an upvote, it definitely help me to put more effort and spend some time sharing my thoughts and the opportunity that blockchain technology affords us of tapping into ourselves. Its a good time to look into EDNA Project as its tries to incorporate DNA and Blockchain