Genetics-Does reading the gene give you all the information about that persons body?

Question

Can scientists tell by simply reading the gene exactly what a person looks like? For example: Can they look at a person and choose from a choice of genes readings =what it says on the chromosome?

Also, can a gene be used to identify a criminal let's say? Like if they can't get a genetic sampling of the suspects, but they have some genes from the scene of the crime, can they use the gene to identify the appearance of the criminal?

Answer 1

There is a lot about gene expression that has yet to be explained. Think about this: Ask any older person about their natural hair color. As a young child, my brother's hair was so blond it was white. Then around age 10 it was medium brown. Now (he's 45) and it is dark brown with some gray showing up. Have his genes changed? No. But the expression of those genes have been influenced by lots of things. So, you simply can not read the genes like some biological bar code. They don't work that way.

Answer 2

Not exactly. Your genes give you a blueprint for your body, but there are environmental factors that will change the way your phenotype is expressed. For instance, certain antioxidants can trigger a gene's expression. That's why you used to hear ads for green tea having a positive effect on preventing cancer: because it prevented certain genes from being "turned on" so to speak.
I've also read that during pregnancy, a mother's diet greatly affects the phenotype of the baby.
So, just by looking at your genes, they could get a pretty good idea.... but not exactly. There are too many external factors to be precise about predicting the gene's expression.

Answer 3

No, as genes work in concert with other genes. A very bad analogy, that is still around, is that genes are like blueprints, which you could read in the manner you are speaking of. The truth is rather more in the area of a recipe for a cake. Where all the ingredients, genes, are mixed together, so, except for an occasional cheery on top effect, there is no one to one mapping. This is true for genetic disorders, also. Think of your car. If you were to break a fan belt, even this minor inconvenience, mechanically, could lead to the " death " of your car.

Answer 4

A gene give rise to a protein. A protein would then determine what would happen to a person. However, not all proteins are presented identically for all people.

One good example is fingerprint. Identical twins may have identical genes but they do not have the identical fingerprint because the phenotype is expressed differently despite having the same protein.

You can generally say that if a person is able to tell what gene control what protein, most diseases or so would be able to be told.

Answer 5

This is up for debate and the answer I believe is no. there are only 30,000 genes in the human genome, and this is dwarfed by the amount of brain cells present in the human brain. simply knowing ones genetic blueprint does not precisely predict the appearance of a person. this is mainly because of the complexities of the human genome. it is known that genes can contain more that one "blueprint" and at it will because this science is still in its infancy predictions cannot be easily made by looking for a certain gene for blue eyes or blond hair. with further research more traits will become predictable but at present we will have to just watch and see. as for what was said above I would like to point out that genetic disorders are linked to genes already, as is clearly visible in any look at the science section of a newspaper.

Answer 6

To a certain extent, a human's genome will give a fairly good idea of some basic body features, such as pigmentation, hair type, and potential height and weight.

However, the environment in which that person lives, including pollutant levels, nutrition, and availability of medical aid, as well as his or her behavior, may significantly modify body fat and muscle ratios, hair style or color, scarification, and other variables in appearance.

So, a genome might give a potential range of physical parameters, but cannot definitively describe appearance by itself.

Answer 7

The research and technology isn't advanced enough to do this yet, but in theory you should be able to get a good idea of what they look like. Identical twins are genetically identical, but they can look slightly different because of small random changes as they grow up and through environmental factors.