Dean Ornish argues that lifestyle changes can alter gene expression and potentially reverse diseases, as supported by Craig Venter's research showing genes can be changed by creating new ones. Venter is known for sequencing the human genome and creating the first synthetic cell. He co-announced the mapping of the human genome in 2000. Genes are made of DNA and contain the genetic code that determines traits. DNA is a double-stranded molecule composed of bases that spell out instructions in the genetic code.

1. NOVEMBER 2013
People and Genetics
VOLUME 1 ISSUE 1
Our Genes are not our Fate
“One way to change our genes is to make new ones, as Craig Venter has so
elegantly shown. Another is to change our lifestyle” says Dean Ornish on TED
TALKS.
Change your lifestyle, eat healthy food and avoid the usual suspects like
saturated fat and sugar, nicotine, opiates, too much alcohol and chronic stress.
You age less quickly, you can reverse diseases.
Dean Ornish: Well, our genes are not our fate!
Meet Craig Venter
John Craig Venter (born October 14, 1846), is an American biologist and
Are you interested to find out more?
Watch us at www.tedtalks.com
entrepreneur. He is known for being one of the first to sequence the human
genome and for creating the first cell with a synthetic genome. Venter
founded Celera Genomics, The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) and
the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), and is now working at JCVI to create
synthetic biological organisms. He was listed on Time magazine’s 2007 and
2008 Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world. In 2010, the
British magazine New Statesman listed Craig Venter at 14th in the list of
“The World’s 50 Most Influential Figures 2010”. He is a member of the
USA Science and Engineering Festival’s Advisory Board.
FIND IN THIS ISSUE:
ARE GENES OUR FATE?
WHO IS CRAIG VENTER?
WHAT ARE GENES?
A life Decoded by Craig
Venter
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2. People and Genetics
NOVEMBER 2013
VOLUME 1 ISSUE 1
Scientific Discoveries
Venter learned of a technique for rapidly identifying all of the mRNAs present in a
cell and began to use it to identify human brain genes. The short cDNA sequence
fragments discovered by this method are called expresses sequence tags (ESTs), a
name coined by Anthony Kerlavage at The Institute for Genomic Research. The NIH
initially led an effort to patent these gene fragments, in which Venter coincidentally
and controversially became involved. The NIH later withdrew the patent
applications, following public outcry. Subsequent court cases declared that ESTs
were not directly patentable.
In 2000, Venter and Francis Collins of the National Institute of Health and US
Public Genome Project jointly made the announcement of the mapping of the human
genome, a full three years ahead of the expected end of the Public Genome Program.
The announcement was made along with US President Bill Clinton, and U.K Prime
Minister Tony Blair. Venter and Collins thus shared an award for "Biography of the
Year" from A&E Network. On the 15 February 2001, the Human Genome Project
consortium published the first Human Genome in the journal Nature, and was
followed, one day later, by a Celera publication in Science. Despite some claims that
shotgun sequencing was in some ways less accurate than the clone-by-clone method
chosen by the Human Genome Project, the technique became widely accepted by the
scientific community and is still the de facto standard used today.
What are Genes?
Your body is made up of 50 trillion cells. Cells come in many different varieties with
many different functions. But inside almost every cell is a nucleus containing ninetynine point nine percent of your genes and mitochondria containing a few more genes
although you have nearly 20,000 genes. Your genes are a small part of a long
molecule called DNA deoxyribo nucleic acid if you lined up all of the DNA
containing all of your genes it would major 6 feet long but it coils so tightly that it fits
in just one cell nucleus.
DNA is a double-stranded molecule composed of sugar phosphate and four different
bases adenine, thymine, cytosine, guanine. This bases spell out the language known as
the genetic code the number and order of this bases determined for example whether
you are a chimp, a caw, a banana or a human.
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. DNA is a double-stranded molecule composed of sugar
phosphate and four different bases adenine, thymine,
cytosine, guanine of the gene.
What Do We Share With Other
Species?
Different species have different numbers but
chromosomes humans usually have 46 chromosomes
2sets of 23 or simply 23 pairs of chromosome.
Chimpanzees have 2 sets of 24 or 24 pairs of
chromosomes. Rhesus monkeys have 21 pairs of
chromosomes. Caws have 30 pairs of chromosomes.
Chickens- 39 pairs of chromosomes. Fruit flies have
pairs of chromosomes and bananas have 11 pairs of
chromosomes.
So, what percentage of the DNA in your chromosomes
do you share with other species? You share ninety-three
percent of your DNA with rhesus monkey and ninetyeight .5 percent with our friend chimpanzee. How about
with the other humans? 99 .5 percent so what makes us
different from one another well one thing SNPs.