Read on for a complete explanation. Genetics Genetics deals with the transmission of characteristics from parents to offspring. Through the study of the structure and behavior of genes, geneticists hope to gain insight into patterns of heredity. This knowledge will help us understand the similarities and differences between generations, and by extension, between all organisms related to one another by ancestry. People receive their genetic makeup from their parents.
Genes provide the basic coding information used by the body to make proteins.
An abnormality in a gene can produce abnormal proteins that can lead to abnormal function and, ultimately, to disease. In 1988, the Human Genome Project, an international collaborative endeavor, set to work to determine the location of all genes and to sequence the entire human genome by the year 2005. During the past three years, great advances have been made in the application of sophisticated methods for genetic studies of the retina. For more information on this research, go to Genetic Research .