Human Genome Organisation
The human genome is like a giant instruction manual that tells our bodies how to do things. It's written in a special code called "DNA" that's made up of four different letters: A, T, C, and G.
But this instruction manual is really, really long - it's made up of more than 3 billion of these letters! So scientists have to figure out ways to organize it and make sense of all that information.
One way they do this is by breaking the genome down into smaller parts called "genes." Each gene is like a specific set of instructions that tells our bodies how to make one particular protein - kind of like a recipe. But just like a recipe book has chapters and sections, the genes are organized into different regions of the genome.
There are also places in the genome that don't code for proteins at all - they're just kind of in-between spaces. Scientists call these "non-coding regions." But even these regions have structure and organization - they're not just random bits of code.
All of this organization can be really helpful for scientists who are trying to understand how our bodies work and what makes us sick. By studying different genes and regions of the genome, they can figure out how different parts of the instruction manual work together to make us who we are.
But this instruction manual is really, really long - it's made up of more than 3 billion of these letters! So scientists have to figure out ways to organize it and make sense of all that information.
One way they do this is by breaking the genome down into smaller parts called "genes." Each gene is like a specific set of instructions that tells our bodies how to make one particular protein - kind of like a recipe. But just like a recipe book has chapters and sections, the genes are organized into different regions of the genome.
There are also places in the genome that don't code for proteins at all - they're just kind of in-between spaces. Scientists call these "non-coding regions." But even these regions have structure and organization - they're not just random bits of code.
All of this organization can be really helpful for scientists who are trying to understand how our bodies work and what makes us sick. By studying different genes and regions of the genome, they can figure out how different parts of the instruction manual work together to make us who we are.