Genetically Modified Organisms for Dummies
Posted by scottyc on January 14th, 2011 What are GMO’s? Genetics are the software that determine how living things grow. It is the blueprint for our existence and, as such, it is almost as complicated as we are. We have two strands of DNA. These strands come together in the middle like rungs of a ladder to create a sequence of what are called base pairs. There are about 3 billion base pairs in the human body. A group of these base pairs is a gene – some contain a few dozen base pairs, some a few hundred. There are about 60,000 genes in the human body – some are turned on and some off and nobody has the faintest idea what most of them actually do. We do know that each gene within a living organism has a specific function. So, when a scientist discovers which gene in a glow worm is responsible for making it glow, they can then “splice” (or merge) this gene into that of a goldfish. The result – a goldfish that glows in the dark. If you think I’m joking, feel free to buy one right now at w...