Heredity, the tendency of a living being to inherit traits or characteristics of its parents, has been traced to a substance called DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid that exists within all living cells. The DNA molecule resembles a set of long ladders or chains twisted around one another to form a long spiral staircase-like structure known as a double helix. The molecule is almost infinitely complex and theorists believe that within its intricate structure is encoded the ‘blueprint’ for the development of the entire organism; in our case, a complete human being.
This blueprint determines how more than 100,000 different proteins will be produced from 20 amino acids. It is basically how when a child is born over a period of time the child’s features begin to resemble those of its parents. Whether or not this is cause for celebration, it is unavoidable, and scientists tell us that heredity is to blame.
The proteins in our body combine to form about 100 different kinds of cells in all, such as bone, muscle and hair cells. The body of a full grown adult contains about 60 trillion cells. Someone with small feet has less ‘foot cells’ than the average person, while someone with a large nose has more ‘nose cells’. This is something that cannot be controlled, but is due to heredity, the genetic blueprint coded within the DNA molecule.
Each human cell, which is about 0.1 millimetre in diameter contains DNA that holds the equivalent of a 600-million-word genetic language. If put in written form, this language could fill more than 30,000 large dictionaries. This language would be infinitely descriptive and, in fact, is thought to describe when and where proteins will form and how cells will group together to form a complete human being.
Human life is made of the lives of many magnificent individual cells, each possessing a sort of innate wisdom or power to survive. The human body, however, is far more than a mere collection of cells and organs. It possesses a unique individuality and unity of its own.
Human life is endowed with wisdom, individuality and life force. If we can fully display these qualities at each and every moment, whatever our hereditary background may be, we will never be defeated by any circumstance, nor will we be limited by any individual traits or characteristics. Instead, we will be able to use our unique qualities to our maximum advantage in overcoming any obstacle or limitation and have our dreams and wishes fulfilled.
