I really, really like genetics. When genes are working fine and they're doing what they're supposed to, everything is cool and your body is happily making proteins. BUT, what I think it's REALLY fascinating about genetics is how these teeny, tiny mutations in genes can cause so many diseases.
Like, think about it, cancer is caused when your cells start to divide uncontrollably. And the reason why your cells divide uncontrollably is because there's a mutation somehow your cell's genes, which usually tells your cells to go back into the cell cycle when they're NOT supposed to. And then, what makes it even worse, is that there's usually some type of mutation that causes your cells to not die like they're supposed to.
Or, or, think about Huntington's disease, which is caused when the replication machinery for your cell doesn't work the way it's supposed to and it causes your cell to make too many of a specific protein. And this causes the nervous system to effectively shut down basically. BUT, the problem with Huntington's disease, is that it only shows up in older adults, and it's actually really easy to pass down to the next generation. Theoretically, you could cure this by using this super cool technique called CRISPR-Cas9, which comes in and cuts out the mutation that is not supposed to be in your genome like a pair of tiny scissors, but it's sometimes not accurate and... there's a lot of cells in your body by the time you start showing symptoms for Huntington's...
Okay, CRISPR-cas9 is actually interesting. It's a pair of scissors that comes in and cuts mutations in genes that causes a disease. It can actually cut any region of DNA. But, like, it's not always affective and can cut sections that it's not supposed to cut.
Okay, I'm done ranting about genes for now. I really love learning science things and I got obsessed with genes last year.