Medical genetics, the human genome project and public health
Open Access
- 1 September 2000
- journal article
- other
- Published by BMJ in Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
- Vol. 54 (9) , 645-649
- https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.54.9.645
Abstract
The body of a human being contains approximately 1014cells. Each one, in order for the whole to function properly, needs an appropriate repertoire of biochemical functions. Every cell has a unique history as to where it came from and how it got to be what it is; the history of a liver cell is not the same as that of a hair root cell. However, they all start with exactly the same genetic information. Every specialised biochemical function a cell performs is encoded within the same set of genes in the nucleus of that cell. Hence, genetics is important because genes determine what cells can do, and what cells can do is what organs, tissues and bodies can do!Keywords
This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- The New Genomics: Global Views of BiologyScience, 1996