CAN Anybody EXPLAIN WHAT IS DNA IN LAYMEN TERMS AS EASILY?

Question

,IS IT POSSIBLE.DISCOVERY CHANNEL

DOCUMENTERY SAYS IT IS NOT YET BEEN POSSIBLE.IF IT IS SO WILL IT

BE A PANACEA FOR ALL DISEASES.HOW MUCH DOES THE MODERN MEDICINE

KNOWS ABOUT DNA AND ITS ACTIVATION.IS IT TRUE THAT AN AVERAGE

PERSONS DNA IS ACTIVATED APPROXMATELY 3.50% THE REST IS NOT

ACTIVATED JUST LIKE LEARNING CHANNELS SAYS THAT ONLY GENIUSES

USE THEIR CONSCIOUS MIND APPROXIMATELY 7% THE REST IS

UNCONSCIOUS.RECENTLYT ON T.V A PSYCHIATRIST OR PSYCHOLOGIST SAID

THAT WE USE 4000 BITS ON CONSCIOUS LEVEL AND 4 BILLION ON

UNCONCONSCIOUS MIND IS IT TRUE ANY PROOFS OR LINKS.THANKS.

Answer 1

DNA is a bit tricky to explain, but I will try. This is gonna be kind of long, but you've asked a whole BUNCH of questions all at once. Sorry.

DNA stands for Deoxyribo-Nucleic Acid which is a very big long name for the type of chemical it is. I won't go too much into it except to say:

(1) it has interchangeable bits that allow for it to be swapped about a bit like Lego(tm) or other forms of building blocks
(2) the swap around bits allow us to encode (give instructions for) building another type of chemical in our body called Proteins
(3) the Proteins then go and do all the interesting stuff in the body - fibres for muscles to contract - channels to conduct electrical ions for nerves to fire off - etc.

I'm not sure what the documentary says is possible or not so I can't comment unless you explain that bit a little more.

It is thought to be a "panacea for all disease" only by those who don't fully understand it. It is a key to understanding all the proteins in our body, and a key to understanding all the proteins in the bodies of, say, the bacteria around us ... bacteria and parasites and fungi all have DNA and this determines THEIR proteins. It will help us understand and possibly cure many genetic diseases and possible cancer, but there will be a lot more stuff needed to understand many other disease such as infections, trauma, heart disease, autoimmunity and many other things afflicting us which are consequences of our behaviours rather than of our DNA. Of course, there are some who firmly believe our behaviours are due to our DNA, but it isn't as simple as that.

Modern Medicine knows the structure of DNA and is currently involved in a project called the Human Genome project - involved in mapping out all of the DNA genes in the human body. The genes are the bits of DNA that code for the proteins.

Activation of DNA changes from one cell to another. For instance, our Red Blood Cells when mature do not have ANY DNA in them at all! They need no extra proteins and just carry oxygen about until they die off. Other cells have to make proteins every day to help us digest our food or fight off infections or whatever. The nerve cells make the proteins to help conduct signals and to signal other nerve cells. The gland cells make proteins for whatever (fluid/hormone/etc) output they squirt out. The muscle cells make proteins to help our muscles contract. etc. Each set of cells makes the proteins helpful for THEM and not for others. The gland cells do not make movement proteins, for instance. The muscle cells do not make digestion proteins. So some of our DNA is active (switched on, if you like). Other bits are tucked away and "switched off", depending on what cell it is. BUT (apart from the red blood cells) every cell has the same code as every other cell - at least in most of us, this is the case.

Okay - now your questions seem to change to things relating to subconscious/unconscious mind stuff.

The DNA we were talking about codes for the nerve cells to make the proteins so they can fire off and communicate with each other. This forms the basis for our sensations. Light from the computer screen strikes your retina, causes cells there to change chemically (DNA codes for the chemical) and send a nerve impulse to the brain along optic nerve (DNA codes for the proteins for the communication), and the brain receives and decodes this set of nerves firing off and we are able to make out the letters, the words... and eventually the understanding of complex ideas (like DNA). But now we are getting beyond the protein stuff. We are getting into the world of patterns of thought. The how and why of the nerve wiring etc.

Some people who have been trying to work out how our brains work divide the thinking bits into: Conscious and Unconscious (sometimes called Subconscious).

Conscious brain is the thing you are using to read what I am writing now, and what you are using to understand it. It relates to the sensations of the keyboard under your fingertips and the chair you are sitting on, the light that you see, smells that you smell, etc. What you are aware of.

Unconscious brain is the thing that you use when things are going on that you are NOT aware of: the billboard advertising slogan you see out of the corner of your eye - backwards satanic message in the music you listen to (see subliminal message) - the friendly or unfriendly signals you get from the people around you - the smell of a girl's perfume triggering a memory of something in the past (good or bad).

The amount of brain we are said to use varies from source to source. Some say 10%, others say 7% ... I am sure that we all know some people who we think use MUCH less! :-)

The amount we DO use can be calculated with a very sophisticated brain scan where we put someone in a tunnel and scan their brain and give them stimuli: pictures to see, sounds to hear, questions to think about, etc. Mind you, this is only a measure of the amount of brain we actually use when we are being scanned and this might be a little less than normal (or a little more) with the tunnel/scanner not being our usual place of living. See the wiki PET scan link for a picture of the scanner.

You might have to ask the TV show about their sources for the proof of their claims. Certainly, a lot more goes on in our brains than we are aware of. I'm not sure how to put numbers to it, though.

Answer 2

Basically all DNA is is you. It determines our physical characteristics - what we look like, our ailments etc. Some scientists belive that DNA may also play a part in our behavior.

Answer 3

double helical genetic material. found in nucleus of organisms .responsible for all genetic processes