That gives you such a buzz and a rush and you just feel that, you know, you've really made a difference. The job I do as a forensic scientist, you know, it's different every day, and that one particular case, it could be that, you know, the breakthrough that the police need. If you're thinking of applying for this job, is to get a good grounding in science, chemistry, physics, biology. ![]() With the police, we're using forensic science to help with their criminal investigations, using things like bloodstain pattern analysis, we're looking at body fluids.ĭNA can transfer in many different ways, my saliva could be deposited on a surface or I might have cut myself and left my blood or a hair might have fallen out.ĭNA can survive thousands of years, so we can go back to old crime scenes. Everyone's DNA is almost unique apart from that of identical twins. And what it is, it codes for your sort of genetic makeup, such as things like your eye colour and your hair colour, sort of your physical and chemical characteristics. ![]() It's found in the nucleus of cells.ĭNA is fundamental to our job. You can read about inherited genes that increase cancer risk.Dr Andrew Hart: My name is Dr Andrew Hart and I'm a senior forensic scientist.ĭNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid, it's a complex chemical. If these genes get damaged, a faulty cell can survive rather than die and it becomes cancerous. There are many different genes and proteins involved in apoptosis. Cells usually die whenever something goes wrong, to prevent a cancer forming. It is a very complex and important process. This is called apoptosis or programmed cell death. Some genes tell a cell to self destruct if it has become too old or damaged. Genes that tell a cell to die (self destruction genes) Scientists have found damaged DNA repair genes in some cancers, including bowel cancer. So errors will build up in other genes over time and allow a cancer to form. Most DNA damage gets repaired straight away because of these proteins.īut if the DNA damage occurs to a gene that makes a DNA repair protein, a cell has less ability to repair itself. But cells contain many different proteins whose job is to repair damaged DNA. The DNA in every cell in our body is constantly in danger of becoming damaged. Genes that repair other damaged genes (DNA repair genes) Researchers know that the p53 gene is damaged or missing in most cancers. The best known tumour suppressor gene is p53. The cell can then start to multiply out of control. Mutations in tumour suppressor genes mean that a cell no longer understands the instruction to stop growing. When the damage is very bad, tumour suppressor genes may stop the cell growing and dividing. It is usual for cells to repair faults in their genes. Genes that stop the cell multiplying (tumour suppressor genes) That cell, and all the cells that grow from it, are permanently instructed to divide. When one becomes damaged, it is like the accelerator pedal becoming stuck down. When they become active they speed up a cell's growth rate. We can think of oncogenes as being a bit like the accelerator pedal in a car. In adults this doesn't happen very often. Oncogenes are genes that, under normal circumstances, tell cells to multiply and divide. Genes that encourage the cell to multiply (oncogenes) You can read more about the 4 types below. Most tumours have faulty copies of more than 1 of these types. There are 4 main types of genes involved in cell division. It doesn't repair itself properly, and it doesn't die when it should. The cell can start to multiply out of control. Sometimes mutations in important genes cause a cell to no longer understand instructions. Or the immune system may recognise them as abnormal and kill them. When the damage is very bad the cell may self destruct instead. It is usual for cells to repair faults in their genes. This can give them an increased risk of cancer. Sometimes people inherit certain faulty genes from their parents. high energy (ionising) radiation, such as x-rays.Or they can happen because of other factors such as: Mutations can happen throughout our lives, during natural processes in our cells. These mistakes (or faults) are called mutations. Our genes pick up mistakes that happen when cells divide. Some genes control how much each cell grows and divides. ![]() For example they tell your body to have blonde hair, or brown skin, or green eyes. And they tell your cells: Your genes carry all the information that makes you, you. You inherit half your DNA from your mother and half from your father. It is made up of genes. Humans have around 25,000 genes in total. But is very tightly coiled up so it all fits. DNA is like a code containing all the instructions that tell a cell what to do. You have more than 2 metres of DNA inside every cell.
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