Does it seem odd to you that DN of our spit matches our hair, etc.?? New genetics advances a "Pandora's Box"?

Question

Manipulating genes? How much is too much?!?

We are closer than ever to answering many questions that have dogged thinkers for thousands of years, and many new queries that we've never even posed before.

Are all our cells identical...skin, bone, etc. Have you noticed on cop science shows that all our cells are identical on the DNA level???

If the skin and other cells are identical, what makes one cell skin and another one not?

Are you aware of the newest research in tiny cell controllers in the body that distinguishes a brain cell from a heart cell?

It's incredible what we are discovering in the 21st century!!! Are we on the road to more cloning? Or less?

What are the cutting edge issues in biological science?

Pluripotent cells have been suggested as a prime source to reprogram somatic cells.

Totipotent and pluripotent cells have the potential to greatly benefit biological research and medicine. The genetic program of somatic cells can be converted into that of totipotent or pluripotent cells, as shown by nuclear transfer or cell fusion experiments. During reprogramming by cell fusion various features of pluripotent cells are acquired. These include morphology of the respective pluripotent fusion partner, a specific epigenetic state, a specific gene profile, inactivation of tissue-specific genes expressed in the somatic fusion partner, and the developmental as well as differentiation potential of pluripotent cells. What is known about the reprogramming process mediated by cell fusion and the potential use of fusion-induced reprogramming for therapeutic applications.

What should be the ethical guidelines for human stem cell research? where is the Human Genome Project taking us?

Answer 1

The DNA in *all* the cells of your body is the same! The thing that makes them different cell types is *which* genes they have turned "on", and in what proportions. So, there are genes that are only turned on in neurons, and genes that are only on in the eye lens, and genes that are only on in heart muscle cells.
Genes code for proteins that do specific jobs. So neurons need to make neurotransmitters, the eye lens needs to "pack" itself full of crystallin proteins, and the heart muscle cells need to be able to contract rapidly. Different proteins perform all these jobs.

Anyone doing biological research will be familar with the controllers in the body determining which cell type is which. But how these genes are regulated is an area of active ongoing research and has been for a long time; it is enormously complicated.
In actual fact, this kind of information has been known for much of the 20th century - not just the 21st. But yes! It is astounding what we are discovering every day!

Every individual field of biological science has its own "cutting edge issues". For example, I work in Tissue Engineering - trying to grow tissues and organs in the lab to use in surgical replacement and drug trials. Some current issues include: how to get blood vessels to inflitrate your new tissue, how to ensure that the correct 3D arrangement of cells in your tissue is achieved, what materials are best to use as "scaffolds" to grow the cells on (long term ones identical to those in the body, or temporary ones that are replaced by the cells with "natural" materials).
Lots to think about!
_______________________________________________
Edit (about Stem Cells)
The commonest source for ES cells are from "extra" fertilised ova that are left over after a successful IVF pregnancy. When performing IVF, multiple ova are fertilised in vitro, in order to maximise the chances for a successful pregnancy.
So, after successful implantation - what do you do with these leftover embryos? Just throw them out, or possibly use them to cure someone else who is suffering from multiple sclerosis, or spinal injury, or any one of the many diseases that have the potential to be treated by stem cell therapy?

Picture a family whose child tragically dies. And they are asked if they want to donate his/her organs to save other lives. This is no different from using the extra embryos after IVF.

Few people (perhaps no-one) are advocating actually making human embryos specifically for use in stem cell research and therapies. But there are other ways to get them.

Answer 2

The question about cell differentiation is being feverishly studied - from what's been gathered so far, it's been assumed that there are electrical impulses in the womb that tell the totipotenent and pluripotent cells to differentiate into one of 200+ cells. And it's not surprising that all our cells have the same DNA, seeing as they're all cloned from our original one.
While they have the same DNA, they're formed differently by different proteins being released and used in each different type of cell.

Answer 3

It would seem odd if all of my DNA wasn't the same.