“What's the difference between the words genome, gene and ...

A genome is an organism's complete set of DNA. If the DNA code is a set of instructions that's carefully organised into paragraphs (genes) and ... HomeAboutusCancernewsSciencesurgery:“What’sthedifferencebetweenthewordsgenome,geneandchromosome?”Sciencesurgery:“What’sthedifferencebetweenthewordsgenome,geneandchromosome?”Category:ScienceblogMay29,2018GabriellaBeerCommentsareclosed3minutereadThisentryispart9of23intheseriesScienceSurgeryOurScienceSurgeryseriesanswersyourcancersciencequestions.Ifyouhaveaquestionthatyou’dlikeustoanswer,sendittoususingtheemailaddressatthebottomofthispost.Patrickasked:“What’sthedifferencebetweenthewordsgenome,geneandchromosome?”Toanswerthisquestionit’sbesttostartsmallandzoomout.Genes,genomesandchromosomesareeachmadeupofthemostimportantmoleculetolifeonearth:DNA.ThedifferencebetweenthesethreeDNAstructuresishowmuchDNAtheycontain.WhatisDNA?DNAisastringofcomplexmoleculescallednucleotides.Itcontainsthegeneticinformationoflifeandactsasasetofinstructionsforhowtobuildandmaintainyou.DNAisfoundintheheartofalmosteveryhumancell,inanareacalledthenucleus.OurDNAisunique,unlessyou’reanidenticaltwin.DefinitionsGene:ashortsectionofDNAChromosome:apackageofgenesandotherbitsofDNAandproteinsGenome:anorganism’scompletesetofDNAWhatisagene?TheDNAfoundinourcellsformsamolecularinstructionbook,butitisn’tjustasetofrandomletterswithnoorderorpunctuation.It’sorganisedintolittlechunks,orparagraphsofinformation,thateachcarryaspecificsetofinstructionsforhowtomakeacertainaspectofyou.ThislittleparagraphisashortsectionofDNAknownasagene.Scientiststhinkourgeneticcodecontainsaround23,000genes.Genesareinstructionsthatourcellsusetomakemoleculescalledproteins.Proteinshavelotsofdifferentroles.Theyformthescaffoldingofcells,aswellashelpingthemtofunctionandcommunicate.Somegenestellcellshowtomakeproteinsinvolvedincellgrowthanddivision.Ifthesegenesgowrong,theycandevelopintocancergenesandcausecellstogrowoutofcontrol.Whatisacancergene?WhenacelldividesithastomakeacopyofeveryDNAmoleculesoitcanbeexactlysplitbetweenthetwonewcells.Wehavearound3billionindividualDNAmolecules(nucleotides)ineachcell.That’salotofworktocarryouterror-free.Sometimescopyingmistakeshappeninapartofthegeneticcodethatdoesn’tcarrytheinstructionsforaprotein,andsonothingreallyhappens.Inotherinstances,thecell’sDNArepairmachineryfixesthefaultyDNAchain.Occasionallyerrorshappeningenesthatcontrolacell’sgrowthandsocanleadtocancer.Peoplecaninheriterrorsingenesfromtheirparents,whichcangivethemanincreasedriskofcancer.OtherfactorsthatdamageDNA,suchastobaccosmokeoralcohol,canalsocreatefaultygenes.Genetestscansometimespickoutwhichfaultygenesmightbehelpingaperson’scancercellsgrow.Knowingthesespecificgeneticfaultscansometimeshelpdoctorsdecidewhichtreatmentisbestforapatient.Thisiscalledpersonalisedmedicine.Formoreonpersonalisedmedicinereadthissciencesurgerypost:ScienceSurgery:‘Istheone-size-fits-alltreatmentapproachobsolete?’Whatisachromosome?DNAstrandsarebothimportantanddelicate,soit’sessentialthatthey’repackagedcarefullyandprotectedduringthecelldivisionprocess.TostrengthenthemandkeepthemsafeDNAisloopedandcoiledintoastructurecalledachromosome.Ifageneisaspecificparagraphthatcontainsdetailsonhowtomakeonesinglebuildingblockofyou,thenachromosomeisachapterinthisinstructionbook.Thereare46chaptersintheinstructionmanualofyou,or46chromosomesintotal:23fromyourmumand23fromyourdad.Chromosomesareformedbeforecellsdivide.Researchsuggeststhaterrorsinchromosomecopyingcouldbeoneofthefirstfewchangesinacellthatgivesitthepotentialtoturncancerous.Whatisagenome?Agenomeisanorganism’scompletesetofDNA.IftheDNAcodeisasetofinstructionsthat’scarefullyorganisedintoparagraphs(genes)andchapters(chromosomes),thentheentiremanualfromstarttofinishwouldbethegenome.Almosteveryhuman’sgenome,chromosomesandgenesareorganisedinthesameway.It’stheDNAcode,thewordsonthepage,thatareslightlydifferent.That’swhatmakesusunique.Thehumangenomewasfirstsequencedin2003.Duringthisprojectscientistsreadallthelettersthatmakeupourgenome,butthisisuselessifwedon’tunderstandwhatitmeans.Scientistsarenowworkingonthis.Piecebypiecethey’relearningmoreabouteachpartofourgenome.Unfortunately,understandingwhateachofour23,000genesdoes,andhowtheyinteractwitheachother,willtakesometime.Butdoingthisisimportantforcancerresearchbecauseifwecompletelyunderstandhowwe’reputtogether,wecanworkoutwhythingsgowrong.Andifweknowwhycellsgowrongandhowtheyturnintocancercells,itcouldgiveuscluesonhowtobeatthem.GabiWe’dliketothankPatrickforaskingusthisquestion.Ifyou’dliketoaskussomething,[email protected],leavingyourfirstnameandlocation(optional).PreviousinseriesNextinseriesScienceSurgeryIntroducingourScienceSurgeryseriesScienceSurgery:‘Whatfactorsleadtoacellbecomingcancerous?’ScienceSurgery:‘Couldmorecancersbecausedbyinheritedfaultygenesthanwenowthink?’ScienceSurgery:‘Willcancereverbecured?’ScienceSurgery:‘Istheone-size-fits-alltreatmentapproachobsolete?’ScienceSurgery:‘Doeshavinghadcancermakeyoumorelikelytodevelopitagain?’ScienceSurgery:‘What’sbeingdonetousetreatmentsindifferenttypesofcancer?’ScienceSurgery:‘Doweallhavepotentiallycancerouscellsinourbodies?’Sciencesurgery:“What’sthedifferencebetweenthewordsgenome,geneandchromosome?”ScienceSurgery:‘Willcancereverbeeradicatedcompletely?’ScienceSurgery:‘Howquicklydotumoursdevelop?’ScienceSurgery:‘Whydonever-smokersgetlungcancer?’ScienceSurgery:‘Whydoesn’ttheimmunesystemattackcancercells?’ScienceSurgery:‘Howdotumours‘know’wheretospread?’ScienceSurgery:‘Howisskincancerrelatedtosunexposure?’ScienceSurgery:‘Doescancerattackeveryagegroup?’ScienceSurgery:‘Whydosomecancertreatmentsstopworkingaftersolong?’ScienceSurgery:‘Doescanceraffectthefuturedevelopmentofchildren?’ScienceSurgery:‘Howdocancercellsremaindormantformanyyears?’ScienceSurgery:‘Whydosomecancersmetastasise,butothersdon’t?’ScienceSurgery:‘Arebenigntumoursdifferentfromcanceroustumours?’ScienceSurgery:‘Howarechildren’scancersdifferentfromadults’cancers?’ScienceSurgery:‘Cancancersdevelopintheheart?’MoreonthistopicTagsCancerbiologyCancergenesPopularpostsMostreadtodayMostdiscussedSugarandcancer–whatyouneedtoknowCannabis,cannabinoidsandcancer–theevidencesofarScienceSurgery:‘Howquicklydotumoursdevelop?’Beantheredonethat:Canswappingtopulsesbethenewyear’sresolutionthatsticks?AnewapproachtocancerimmunotherapyTheaward-winningteamtransformingbreastcancertreatmentSearchthenewsSearchGetthelatestcancerheadlinesinyourinboxSubscribeAboutthenewssiteWecoverthelatestcancerresearch,includingthatfundedbythecharity.Wealsohighlightotherrelevantmaterial,debunkmythsandmediascares,andprovidelinkstootherhelpfulresources.Readourtermsandconditions.TextfromCancerResearchUK'sNewssitebyCancerResearchUK,islicensedunderaCreativeCommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlikeLicense.