• Question: what is genes

    Asked by wengan to Adam, Joanna, Louise S, Louise W, Marcus on 12 Nov 2012. This question was also asked by amberchris22.
    • Photo: Louise Walkin

      Louise Walkin answered on 12 Nov 2012:

      Genes are basically the building blocks of our bodies and the codes that make us who we are. Our genes decide our hair and eye colour, our height, our foot size, whether we look more like our mum or our dad. Our genes are the blueprint of what we are! 🙂

    • Photo: Joanna Giles

      Joanna Giles answered on 13 Nov 2012:

      Genes are the code that makes us what we are. We have LOADS of DNA in our bodies. Each of our cells has 3 meters of DNA (YES 3 whole meters!) crammed into it (except red blood cells as they do not have nuclei) and that DNA is split up into regions that code for different things. Like Louise says all these genes code for things (each gene codes for one protein) that basically lead to what we are and how we behave.

      One interesting fact – did you know that if you took all the DNA out of one human body and unwound it all it would reach from earth to the moon and back 6000 times!! But it’s so thin you wouldn’t see it, that’s how it fits in you. AMAZING!

    • Photo: Louise Stanley

      Louise Stanley answered on 13 Nov 2012:

      Genes are what makes you you and me me! Everyone inherits half of their genes from their Dad and the other from there Mum. I have the same genes that you do but what makes us different are small changes in genes that may mean rather than having brown eyes you have blue ones. All these slight differences make everyone unique.

    • Photo: Adam Paige

      Adam Paige answered on 19 Nov 2012:

      Parts of our DNA that are coded messages for our cells to make proteins or RNA. Genes are what instruct our cells what to be, how to be, when to be, and what to do next. Given that they are the key to life, it is amazing that our complex bodies only have about 30,000 different ones. We thought there were going to be closer to 100,000 until we sequenced the human genome and discovered we were wrong.

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