DNA, identity, belonging and unanswered questions - Journey into the bubble "Letting go"

Submitted by Donor Conceived on Wed, 01/27/2010 - 6:54pm

Alison D, a 'donor' conceived woman from the UK who has mantle cell lymphoma, will be undergoing a bone marrow transplant which will change her DNA and blood group. She shares her feelings about not wanting to let go of her unaltered DNA because it holds so many unanswered questions - in her latest blog post:

"Letting go" (http://journeyintothebubble.blogspot.com/2010/01/letting-go.html):

"In the meantime, I must let go of my old DNA and my blood group and take on a new persona – thanks to a wonderful donor. I am grateful to the medical profession for attempting this procedure which could cure me. I do, however, hope other medical professionals will take more care in the future about how they approach infertility. Too often this has meant that in solving the parents’ problem they may well be storing up many problems for the child who is created. It is not enough to be wanted; one has to belong."

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DNA ...

Submitted by Matt John on Mon, 02/01/2010 - 12:13am.

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and some viruses. The main role of DNA molecules is the long-term storage of information. DNA is often compared to a set of blueprints or a recipe, or a code, since it contains the instructions needed to construct other components of cells, such as proteins and RNA molecules. The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in regulating the use of this genetic information.

Chemically, DNA consists of two long polymers of simple units called nucleotides, with backbones made of sugars and phosphate groups joined by ester bonds. These two strands run in opposite directions to each other and are therefore anti-parallel. Attached to each sugar is one of four types of molecules called bases. It is the sequence of these four bases along the backbone that encodes information. This information is read using the genetic code, cissp exam questions, which specifies the sequence of the amino acids within proteins. The code is read by copying stretches of DNA into the related nucleic acid RNA, in a process called transcription.

Within cells, DNA is organized into long structures called chromosomes. These chromosomes are duplicated before cells divide, in a process called DNA replication. Eukaryotic organisms (animals, plants, fungi, and protists) store most of their DNA inside the cell nucleus and some of their DNA in organelles, such as mitochondria or chloroplasts. In contrast, prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea) store their DNA only in the cytoplasm. Within the chromosomes, chromatin proteins such as histones compact and organize DNA. These compact structures guide the interactions between DNA and other proteins, helping control which parts of the DNA are transcribed.