ROOTSHUNT

Many people might think that what is the link between Brahmins, DNA and Genes as it is a part of medical science but, the fact is that DNA and Genes has everything got to do with what we are today.

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, 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 structures called chromosomes. These chromosomes are duplicated before cells divide, in a process called DNA replication. Eukaryotic organisms (animals, plants, fungi, and protists) store their DNA inside the cell nucleus, while in prokaryotes (bacteria and archae) it is found in the cell's 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.

The history of Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) research begins with Friedrich Miescher, a Swiss biologist who in 1868 carried out the first carefully thought out chemical studies on the nuclei of cells. Using the nuclei of pus cells obtained from discarded surgical bandages, Miescher detected a phosphorus-containing substance that he named nuclein. He showed that nuclein consists of an acidic portion, which we know today as DNA, and a basic protein portion now recognized as histones, a class of proteins responsible for the packaging of DNA. Later he found a similar substance in the heads of salmon sperm cells. Although he separated the nucleic acid fraction and studied its properties, the covalent structure of DNA did not become known with certainty until the late 1940's.

From these very important early experiments, and a wealth of other corroborating evidence, it is now certain that DNA is the carrier of genetic information in all living cells.

Y-DNA is passed from father to son unchanged for upwards to 20 or more generations. It is particularly useful in proving or disproving a relationship when the documentation is not provable. Y-DNA can also help discover links to family lines that document research has not uncovered.

MTDNA (mitochondrial DNA) is not as useful as is Y-DNA. It is passed from mother to child unchanged for thousands of years, but since a females surname changes with marriage, it isn't as useful in tracing family lines.

The human body consists of 60 thousand billion cells (e.g. white blood cells, muscle cells, or cheek cells) of which nearly every single cell contains our entire genetic information, the DNA. Inside the cell, DNA is found inside the nucleus (chromosomal DNA, consisting of autosomal DNA, X chromosomal DNA and Y chromosomal DNA) and outside the nucleus (mitochondrial DNA).

Our autosomal DNA is inherited from both parents, but Y-chromosomal DNA (Y-DNA) is inherited only from father to son, and mitochondrial DNA (MTDNA) is inherited only from our mother.

The original Y chromosome has mutated its DNA naturally over the generations and these new Y types have settled in various parts of the world in prehistory. By determining your present Y-type and searching the worldwide Y database, Roots for Real can give you a good idea where in the world your father's lineage is generally found today.

Additionally, family researchers (genealogists) who wish to know whether two people with the same surname are related are increasingly using Y chromosomal tests. This is possible because in many cultures, family names or surnames are passed down by the father just like the Y chromosome.

In such cases, two Y tests are needed: one Y test for oneself, and Y test for the person with the same surname who is suspected to be related. All that is then needed is to compare whether the two Y results are identical.

The use of DNA testing for determining a person's ancestry is becoming more and common. By linking your maternal DNA (mitochondrial DNA) and your paternal DNA (the y-chromosome), these ancestry databases are effectively able to link you to other people to whom you may be related and thereby determining to some degree your ancestral lineage and where your ancestors came from.

The first thing that genealogists look for is a father-to-son linkage, tracked down the Y chromosome which only men posses. Therefore, they are able to observe the Y chromosome that appears in other people and compare them, to determine where a paternal link may be present.

This comparison, in essence, allows for the genealogist to try and find paternal linkages amongst people. The other thing that can be done is to link maternal DNA. This in particular is a very powerful testing method that allows for accurate tracking back over many generations because of the mitochondria.

Unlike DNA found in the nucleus, which can be altered and changes as environments change, mitochondrial DNA is a direct connection from child to mother that can't be altered along the way. By taking a sample of the mitochondrial DNA, which is different than the DNA found in the nucleus, the genealogist can determine a maternal linkage. By taking this information, they can, once again, find perhaps those long lost cousins or celebrity ancestors.

One look around a room tells you that each person has slight differences in their physical make up and therefore in their DNA. These subtle variations in DNA are called polymorphisms (literally "many forms"). Many of these gene polymorphisms account for slight differences between people such as hair and eye color. But some gene variations may result in disease or an increased risk for disease. Although all polymorphisms are the result of a mutation in the gene, geneticists only refer to a change as a mutation when it is not part of the normal variations between people.

Genes are working subunits of DNA. Genes or genetics are what are passed down biologically through the generations of your family. They determine everything from your physical appearance to even diseases you may inherit.

A gene is the unit of heredity and carries inherited information. Genes interact with each other to influence physical development and behavior. Genes consist of a long strand of DNA (RNA in some viruses) that contains a promoter, which controls the activity of a gene, and a coding sequence, which determines what the gene produces. When a gene is active, the coding sequence is copied in a process called transcription, producing a RNA copy of the gene's information. This RNA can then direct the synthesis of proteins via the genetic code. However, RNA's can also be used directly, for example as part of the ribosome. These molecules resulting from gene expression whether RNA or protein are known as gene products.

Each gene has a special job to do. It carries blueprints - the instructions - for making proteins (say: pro-teens) in the cell. Proteins are the building blocks for everything in your body. Bones and teeth, hair and earlobes, muscles and blood, all are made up of proteins (as well as other stuff). Those proteins help our bodies grow, work properly, and stay healthy. Scientist's today estimate that each gene in the body may make as many as 10 different proteins. That's over 300,000 proteins!

Like chromosomes, genes come in pairs. Each of your biological parents has two copies of each of their genes, and each parent passes along just one copy to make up the genes you have. Genes that are passed on to you determine many of your traits, such as your hair color and skin color.

The existence of genes was first suggested by Gregor Mendel (1822-1884), who, in the 1860s, studied inheritance in peaplants and hypothesized a factor that conveys traits from parent to offspring. He spent over 10 years of his life on one experiment.

Genes are actually a subset of a cell's DNA. While all of your genes are made of DNA, your entire DNA is not composed of genes. In fact, less than two percent of a person's DNA represents active genes! The rest of the DNA seems to be involved mediating how the genes are expressed.

Deoxyribonucleic Acid is found as long chains with each "link" called a nucleotide. The structure of DNA is the well known double helix. Each bacterial cell generally contains a single chain of duplex DNA, called a chromosome, with about five million links in it. By comparison, cells in human beings contain 2 copies of 23 different chromosomes with around 100 million nucleotides each.

Genes were classically defined as the fundamental units of inheritance. Today we understand genes to be portions of DNA that contain the information needed by cells to live. In particular, genes are special sequences of nucleotides that are used to design proteins which carry out the work of building, maintaining, and reproducing the cell.

2. Less selective advantage,

3. Harmful genes will be exposed,

4. Smaller circle of courtship,

5. Inbreeding depression,

6. Reduction in vigor and,

7. Less resistance to diseases.

From the above given scientific research we can understand the concept of DNA and Genes. This concept was also known by the Rishis and hence they kept certain guide lines for marriage such as to strictly avoid marriage between same gotras, to check if there is any physical or mental defect in any person of the family who the son or daughter is getting married to.

Our ancestors knew this concept but some how we are not able to medically prove it because of the lack of medical science but now as the forensics has developed and through the help of it we can prove it that Lord Brahma and our Ancestors DNA is in us.

Pure food gives rise to pure thoughts. If one wants to have a strong DNA and become a devotee then meat should be renounced. This is because it makes excitement and then its nature is impure.

It is not proper for us to take another life for our personal enjoyment. By eating animals man gets an animalistic nature and thus brings about the destruction of the race.

A person should also avoid smoking cigarettes, drinking and non-vegetarian food and should have regular good eating and sleeping habits, should live in healthy environment and daily exercise to make DNA stronger.