Nature builds living things from building blocks. The basic blueprints of life are written in four chemical basis – their letters are A-G-T-C. Triads of these bases are the building blocks used to translate DNA into amino acids – the building blocks of proteins. Proteins in turn are assembled into larger structures including cell structures and those then assembled into tissues which are then organized into organs – an eye, a tastebud, a heart, a liver, a pollen grain, a leaf, an ovary. Nature uses those building blocks to create two main kinds of life – animals and plants.
All the animals are built from the same building blocks. We share 98% of our DNA with our primate cousins the chimpanzees. We share 90% of our DNA with our domestic felines, and 84% of our DNA with domestic dogs. Mice and men share about 97.5% of the genome (depending of the kind of DNA we’re talking about).
When we use animal models (test subjects) to study human diseases and their potential treatments, we do so with the hope that what we learn from animal studies will apply to humans. It does quite often, but not always.
When I was a child, we had a 10-gallon aquarium populated with tropical fish – guppies, black mollies, swordtails, neon tetras, and zebra fish – to name a few. Later, as medical residents, Susan and I kept gouramis in a 20-gallon tank. Later still, in private practice, I installed and maintained a 120-gallon tank in my private office; it was home to Lake Malawi cichlids. I gave the large tank away to my nephews, and I have not kept fish since then.
Today’s Week 174 update from Dr. Klotman has nothing to say about COVID. In other COVID news, the wastewater viral loads are still rising slightly, but hospitalizations are flat. That suggests a lot of circulating corona virus but no increase in severe disease. Instead, Dr. Klotman turns his attention this week to the Baylor Genetics Core – a center for studying genetics – and the center’s Zebra Fish Research Unit. Zebra Fish and humans share 70% of the genome, and they are easy to keep, easy to study, and are very prolific.
Enjoy the tour of the Zebra Fish facility.