Human Genetics: Medical School Crash Course

Preface This course will involve a basic introduction to the various aspects of genetics—from the basic structure of DNA to the ways in which DNA techniques have been used to treat diseases and create drugs. The first chapter of the course will include a discussion of the structure of the DNA molecule and the structure of genes. DNA is the basic molecule involved in the genetic structure of almost all organisms except for RNA-containing viruses and is the basis of the genetic code. The structure of genes will also be a part of the discussion. The second chapter of the course will focus on the structure of chromosomes and the way chromosomes are replicated during cell division. Chromosomes are linear in eukaryotes and usually circular in prokaryotes but all have the genetic instructions to make all of the proteins and enzymes made by the cell. In the third chapter of the course, there will be a focused discussion on the expression of genes, the genome of the cell, and the complex process of transcription and translation, which involves several processes used in the making of proteins. In chapter four, the basics of Mendelian genetics will be the focus of the discussion. Gregor Mendel used pea plants to identify the basics of the passing on of single-gene traits which has proven to be the way in which genes are passed, even in complex organisms. The genetics involved in the passing on of two genes will also be discussed. In the fifth chapter of the course, the study of bacterial and viral genetics will be the main focus of the discussion. Both bacteria and viruses have slightly different genetic patterns and ways of passing on their genome when compared to eukaryotes, which will be the focus of this chapter. In the sixth chapter of this course, gene regulation will be the main discussion point of the chapter. Genes are regulated as part of the making of certain proteins, which allows the entire genome to be inside each cell but only certain genes to be expressed, depending on the type of cell in the organism and its function within a given tissue or organ. In the seventh chapter of this course, the focus will be on gene mutations and gene repair. Genes mutate for various reasons and, unless they are repaired through normal genetic mechanisms, cells can die or turn cancerous from errors that result in the uncontrolled expression of the cell’s genome. In the eighth chapter of the course, the various major chromosomal diseases will be talked about. This will include those disorders caused by having extra chromosomes in the genome of 1