Genetics:    the study of heredity.

Biochemical genetics: the science concerned with the chemical and physical nature of genes and the mechanism by which they control the development and maintenance of organism.

Clinical genetics: the study of genetic factors influencing the occurrence of a pathological condition.

Gene: the biological unit of heredity , self reproducing and located at a definite position ( locus) on a particular chromosome.

Genome: the complete set of hereditary factors contained in the haploid set of chromosomes.

Genotype: the entire genetic constitution of an individual , and also the alleles present at one or more specific loci.

Genetic disease is very common

Up to half of all major childhood disability and mortality   has a genetic cause . The Human Genome Project is having an enormous impact on our understanding of both normal physiology and the pathogenesis of a wide spectrum of disease.

Human Genome Project

• It aims to map every gene and spell out letter by letter the literal thread of life ,DNA-will affect every branch of Biology

• The payoff from the reference work will come from understanding the proteins encoded by these genes

• Proteins not only make up the structural bulk of the human body but also includes the enzymes that carry out the biochemical reactions of life

• Proteins are composed of  units called amino acids that are linked together in a long string : the string folds back on to itself to form a three dimensional structure that determines the function of the protein.

• The order of the amino acids is set by the DNA base sequence of the gene that encodes a given protein

• Genes dictate the production of proteins through intermediaries called RNA :those that actively make RNA intermediates are said to be expressed.

• It seeks not just to elucidate all of the proteins produced within a human being but to comprehend how the genes that encode the proteins are expressed

• Genes dictate the production of proteins through intermediaries called RNA :those that actively make RNA intermediates are said to be expressed.

• It seeks not just to elucidate all of the proteins produced within a human being but to comprehend how the genes that encode the proteins are expressed

• Will Understanding the human genome transform    Preventive ,Diagnostic and Therapeutic medicine?

• Layers of information built on the top of the complete DNA sequence will reveal the knowledge embedded in the DNA

• Within 20 years ,novel drugs will be available that derive from a detailed molecular understanding of common illnesses like Diabetes mellitus and High blood pressure

• The drugs will be designer therapies that target molecules logically and are therefore potent without side effects . will be much more thorough and specific than now .

• Drugs like those for cancer will routinely be matched to a patients likely response , as predicted by molecular fingerprinting .Diagnoses of many conditions ,Will be much more thorough and specific than now

• For example , a patient who learns that he has high cholesterol will also know which genes are responsible , what effects the high cholesterol is likely to have , and what diet and pharmacologic measures will work best for him.

• By 2050 ,many potential diseases will be cured at the molecular level before they arise . The average life span will reach 90 to 95 years

GENE THERAPY

•   Definition:Its defined as delivery of Nucleic acids to alter  or treat a pathological  process.

•   Scope: Initially used in the management of inherited monogenic disorders

•   Limited success till date

•   Remains an investigational treatment

•   Gene therapy is now being considered for

•   1) Killing Germ cells

•   2) Providing chemo protection of normal cells

•   3)Treating coronary restenosis enhancing vascularization

•   4) Providing DNA based immunization

•    5) Impairing viral replication

SUMMARY

•   A gene can be thought of as a new pharmaceutical agent in the armamentarium  used to treat diseases

•   The limited success of therapy is due to difficulties inherent in the efficient and safe delivery of genes to their appropriate cells

The field is still in its infancy and many of the technical problems are likely to solved by advances in vector design

HYPOTHESIS  -  Homoeopathic Connection  ????       

lWe could employ Homoeopathic drugs as vectors

lScope of Sarcodes to ponder upon

lTo identify the deficient  Proteins needed for gene correction

lPreparing a sarcode of the same protein and administering as a form of a vector drug

Dr Hahnemann would have probably said

GENETICS  Never Heard of it

•   Birth : 1755

•   Death : 1873

•   Double helix structure of DNA by Watson and Crick- 1953 

•   Discovery of Genetics as a Clinical specialty:  1990                                                                

HYPOTHESIS BY DR H A ROBERT

The Temperaments are cast in the very beginning of new individual, when the parent cells first unite, here the initial tendency cannot be changed

but correctly indicated homoeopathic remedy prescribed accurately in neonates and can modify the physiological tendencies as to prevent their unfavourable ultimates , to a considerable degree

Epigenetics – A new way of understanding Homoeopathy?

Recently Scientist are more interested in how the expression of genes is regulated which includes the mechanism of epigenetics.Epigenetics is the interaction of genes with their environment that bring the phenotype into being.

The epigenetic modifications are seen in somatic cells

The ability of a gene or a DNA segment to be expressed is determined during gametogenesis , which is called genomic imprinting.

• The expression of human growth controlling genes is also regulated by genomic imprinting .

• The aberrant expression of growth controlling genes also promotes the development of malignancy

• Astonishingly nutrition ,medicine and other environmental factors can affect epigenetic modifications of the DNA . if this influence occurs during gametogenesis the alteration is transmitted to the next generation

• The transmission of epigenetic effects from generation to generation is also seen with psychic disorders

• Epigeneticist and former Professor Richard Strohman ( University of California)remarks: The key concept here is that dynamic/epigenetic networks have a life of their own –they have network rules – not specified by DNA : and we do not understand these rules . But this is only one level of epigenetic regulation .

• There is a kind of infinite regress here since we now have to ask ,

• What controls the control of gene regulation ?

• Apart from looking from an exclusively molecular  poinf view at the genome we should also  consider that energy might be involved in the  process of genome function .

• At this point obvious parallels to homoeopathy can be drawn.Homoeopathy is a form of therapy acting on an energetic level thus having a deep impact on our organisms.

• Samuel Hahnemann described miasms as predisposition to acquire or inherit certain diseases.The same goes for genetic imprinting .

• Hahnemann thought of contagious diseases as trigger for miasms , whereas gene imprinting can be influenced by various environmental factors .

• Miasms can be passed from parents to children without any change in the DNA sequence. According to our present knowledge the only way to transmit genetic information apart from altering the base sequence is through epigenetic effects

• Miasms do not exist separately from each other. Sometimes they mix or transform from one to another.

• Hahnemann needed only a limited amount of remedies for treating his patients as the miasms were then less complex than they are nowadays .

• Miasms became harder to cure as people living today are burdened with environmental pollution , the side effects of modern medicine and the diseases of our predecessors .

• Homoeopathy,as a energetic form of therapy is able to silence active miasm and thus strengthen our VITAL FORCE???

• May be Hahnemanns vital force is the answer to Strohmans question of how gene expression is controlled . The presence of a coordinating force acting on an energetic level could be the corresponding equivalent to the material level of the DNA molecule

Evidence Based Medicine

Thalassemia patients might need fewer blood transfusions
 

• Thalassemia is caused by a defect in genes that code for haemoglobin .It leads to premature deaths of RBCs which result in excessive accumulation.Iron overload is the cause of most mortality cases .

• For treatment ,Fetal Haemoglobin is usually reactivated  through Drugs.It transports Oxygen from the Mothers blood stream to the fetus and gets replaced by Adult haemoglobin within 12 weeks of Birth

• Anishur Rahman ,Khuda Baksh , Lead researchers  from Department of Zoology , Kalyani University , Calcutta concluded that With Homoeopathic treatment it led to rise in level of foetal haemoglobin .

• Several Homoeopathic remedies to 38 thalassemic patients for 3 months were given  in combination with Hydroxyurea, which eventually raised concentration of fetal Haemoglobin

• They found that therapy dropped ferritin levels in blood .

• It also reduced the inflammation of spleen ,led to rise in Hemoglobin levels and blood transfusion demand decreased

Conclusion: We need to undertake prospective clinical trials for the autosomal recessive and the autosomal dominant genetic diseases