Understanding human genetics
Article Abstract:
Dentists have a professional obligation to learn more about human genetics and its changing role in diagnosis and therapy. Combinations of environmental, behavioral, and genetic factors lead to the development of diseases. Certain genes appear to predispose or cause people to have diseases. Researchers are trying to map approximately 100 genes which affect the condition of the oral, facial, and cranial areas. Biotechnology companies are developing methods for screening for certain genes as a means of diagnosis. The genetic code is analagous to language. Like words, genes give rise to other generations of genes and change. Each cell contains a tremendous amount of genetic information and different cells express different parts of this code. Normal genes work together to produce functioning molecules, while mutations lead to incorrect functioning.
Publication Name: Journal of the American Dental Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0002-8177
Year: 1996
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Nutrients and micronutrients: progress in science-based understanding
Article Abstract:
An overview of advances in nutrient science in the 20th century is presented. Government agencies as early as 1894 have dispensed dietary recommendations. Since that time many scientific disciplines have studied the beneficial and detrimental effects of various nutrients. The Food and Nutrition Board is scheduled to release updated and more comprehensive guidelines between 1997 and 2000. The Food and Drug Administration has designated three labeling categories for nutrient content and health claims. Many complex research strategies have been used to study nutrient effects.
Publication Name: Journal of the American Dental Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0002-8177
Year: 1997
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Charles Darwin and the foundations of clinical genetics in dentistry
Article Abstract:
Genetic maps produced by the Human Genome Project may lead to research on correcting genetic abnormalities and diseases of the head and mouth. The Human Genome Project has been isolating and identifying the genes of all the human chromosomes. The projected completion date is 2005. More than 100 disorders of the head and mouth have been directly linked to an identified genetic sequence. Identifying the source of a disorder may not, however, equate to curing it and may create further ethical dilemmas.
Publication Name: Journal of the American Dental Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0002-8177
Year: 1997
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: Swansong for free degrees: what are the implications of the Dearing report for nursing students? Practice makes perfect
- Abstracts: Findings on host resistance genes for infectious diseases are pointing the way to drugs, vaccines. Fighting infectious disease threats via research: a talk with Anthony S. Fauci
- Abstracts: Orofacial phantom pain: theory and phenomenology. Evidence-based care of musculoskeletal facial pain: implications for the clinical science of dentistry
- Abstracts: Do dentists and physicians advise tobacco users to quit? Peer review and antitrust. Do restrictive covenants violate public policy?