With the deciphering of the genetic make-up of yet another chromosome, scientists Are well on their way to produce what's often described as 'a virtual periodic table of life'. This time it's been the turn of chromosome 14 -fourth in line after chromosomes 22, 21 and 20- to yield its blueprint to the gene sleuths, Genes control the formation of proteins that make a cell tick, deciding how it will repair, defend or divide itself and are packaged in chromosomes in the nucleus of our cells. After the first draft of the entire human genome (the complete set of instructions needed to make a human being that ore packaged in chromosomes) have been busy deciphering the chromosomes one by one.
Decoding chromosome 14 has obviously been o particularly rewarding experience for geneticists as it has led them to more than 60 disease-causing genes that it comes, besides a couple of
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