The book “Human genome. New perspectives”, coordinated by professor Francisco Abadía Molina, of the department of Cell Biology of the University of Granada, intends by compiling the contributions of the homonymous conference organized in 2002 by the University of Verano del Mediterráneo in the city of Melilla, to release the general characteristics, organization and structure of the Human Genome in its cell context, explaining what is the Human Genome Project, exploring the clinical applications raising from a detailed knowledge of the genome, analysing the legal consequences derived from the particular knowledge of a genetic sequence and its use in industrial applications, as well as analysing the social repercussions of the undoubted progress that involves the detailed knowledge of the genome.
The genome is made up of the DNA and, as all the cells of the organism contain it, a question arises: If all the characteristic information of an individual is contained in each cell, how do the different cells use such information to give raise to the different organs, cell types (neurons, muscular cells, cutaneous cells, etc.) and the particular phenotypics of each individual?
According to Francisco Abadía Molina, the answer is (and here is where RNA comes into play) that “different cells express partial and differentially the information contained in the genome, and is the total individual who represents the whole genome. It is necessary that different processes operate on the DNA to guarantee, on the one hand, the correct transmission of the genome to future generations and, on the other hand, to allow its expression and reading in a different way for each cell type”.
Reference: Prof Francisco Abadía Molina
Dpt. Cell Biology. Phone numbers. 958 243 256 / 958 243 258 (department)
E-mail. fmolina@ugr.es
