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Over the next few articles, we\u2019ll explore a little about genetics, our family history, and cancer risk.<\/p>\n
First, we need to cover some of the science behind how genetics actually works.<\/p>\n
Imagine a book. The pages have that fresh, just-printed smell.<\/p>\n
Inside, there are\u00a046 chapters. Within each chapter are\u00a0thousands of sentences, made up of\u00a0words, which are built from\u00a0letters.<\/p>\n
Now picture this book sitting on a bookshelf, alongside many others.<\/p>\n
With enough shelves, you have a\u00a0library. All the books in this library use the same letters, but the way those letters are arranged makes every book unique. In fact,\u00a099.9% of the words are the same\u00a0from one book to another \u2014 it\u2019s that tiny\u00a00.1%\u00a0that makes each story different.<\/p>\n
The books are grouped by genre. Some shelves hold cookbooks, others thrillers, or romance novels.<\/p>\n
They all use similar words, but the\u00a0arrangement and focus\u00a0change the type of story they tell.<\/p>\n
Now imagine the library is busy.<\/p>\n
One book is very popular. It\u2019s picked up and put down all the time.<\/p>\n
The pages get worn at the edges. Someone spills their lunch on it, smudging some of the most important sentences. Maybe a page is torn out, or water from a leaking ceiling stains the paper. Over time, the story becomes harder to follow. Eventually, the book might have to be taken off the shelf.<\/p>\n
On the shelf above, another book sits more peacefully. Readers are careful.<\/p>\n
They use bookmarks, read it under good lighting, and maybe even wrap it in a dust jacket. That book will last much longer.<\/p>\n
The books are us. Each of the 46 chapters is a\u00a0chromosome. Inside each chapter are\u00a0sentences\u00a0\u2014 your\u00a0genes. Each sentence is made up of\u00a0words\u00a0\u2014 your\u00a0DNA. And those words are built from just four\u00a0letters, called\u00a0nucleotides.<\/p>\n
We are born with our own special book. But as we move through life, the way that book is handled changes it. Sunburns, infections, pollution, smoking \u2014 they can leave smudges or rips in the pages. Some changes are small. Others can damage the story so much that the body gets confused \u2014 and that\u2019s where diseases like cancer can begin.<\/p>\n
But we\u2019re not helpless. In previous articles, we\u2019ve explored ways to protect our book: through exercise, healthy food, sleep, and care. You can\u2019t rewrite the book, but you can protect the pages.<\/p>\n
In life, two exact copies of the book are called\u00a0identical twins. The books are the same at first.<\/p>\n
But over time, the environment they\u2019re kept in \u2014 and how carefully they\u2019re looked after \u2014 means they slowly become different.<\/p>\n
This helps explain how one twin might develop a condition the other doesn\u2019t, even though genetically, they start out the same.<\/p>\n
Life on Earth is made of DNA \u2014 the same four letters (A,T,C,G), telling billions of different stories.<\/p>\n
Given our complicated human history, it may be surprising to know that you share\u00a099.9% of your DNA\u00a0with every other human on Earth. It\u2019s that tiny 0.1% that makes each of us unique \u2014 including the genes that influence everything from eye colour to cancer risk.<\/p>\n
Humans and chimpanzees share about\u00a098.8%\u00a0of their DNA. It\u2019s the remaining 1.2% that makes us wear trousers and style our hair. And next time you\u2019re in the fruit section of the supermarket, look at the bananas \u2014 you share about\u00a060% of your DNA\u00a0with that little yellow fruit.<\/p>\n
Many people have taken genetic tests to learn more about their ancestry or race. But here\u2019s the truth: Race has nothing to do with genetics.<\/p>\n
Race is complex. It might involve your passport, your neighbourhood, your cultural identity, and sometimes, other people\u2019s assumptions. But it\u2019s not written in your DNA.<\/p>\n
Ancestry\u00a0can include some genetic clues \u2014 certain genes may be more common in people from certain regions \u2014 but there\u2019s no \u201cIrish gene\u201d or \u201cAfrican gene\u201d or \u201cAsian gene.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
By 1900, Ireland\u2019s population had halved compared to pre-famine years. Even now, nearly 200 years later, it remains the only European country whose population has still not fully recovered to its pre-famine size. Our heavy reliance on a single type of potato meant that when blight struck, there was no genetic diversity to resist it \u2014 and no way for the crop to survive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diversity doesn\u2019t just apply to plants \u2014 it\u2019s crucial for human health, too. Mixing genes is crucial for a species\u2019 survival, whether you\u2019re a potato, a dog breed, or a person. It\u2019s one of the key reasons why marrying your cousin isn\u2019t such a good idea.<\/p>\n
I have a strong interest in Irish history and deeply admire many of our Irish patriots. But the truth is, here in 2025, I likely have more in common with the people I work with every day than with those who lived two centuries ago. Many of my work colleagues were born thousands of miles from Cork \u2014 yet now we collectively grapple with the same, very modern problems, like\u00a0when to give our kids a phone, or\u00a0which energy provider offers the best deal.<\/p>\n
If you have European ancestry, you\u2019re almost certainly related to Julius Caesar \u2014 not because he had many children, but because people from his time who\u00a0did\u00a0have children are now ancestors of nearly everyone in Europe. After 2,000 years, family trees overlap a lot.<\/p>\n
Yes, that also means you\u2019re probably descended from royalty in the genealogical sense \u2014 but your chances of inheriting a throne anytime soon? Not a chance.<\/p>\n
Next time, we\u2019ll look at the role of genetics in cancer.<\/p>\n
Know the facts \u2014 own your risk \u2014 decide for yourself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Over the next few articles, we\u2019ll explore a little about genetics, our family history, and cancer risk. First,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35896,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[200,79],"class_list":["post-35895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-genetics","tag-genetics","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}