COURSE II: Genome

This lesson opens the cellular recipe book for the proteome – Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid, DNA. Starting with “The Central Dogma” we explore the means by which the nucleotide codes on DNA are transcribed onto Ribonucleic acid, RNA, which are then used as a template to build proteins. Once grasped we can appreciate how problems in DNA coding might affect our health. Moving from chromosomes to genes to Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms, SNPs, we learn some of the more common health challenges that might be assigned a ‘genetic’ origin. The hype and hopes of the Human Genome Project are then placed in context of how little we truly know about the mystery of DNA.