There is no end to learning, and there are so many mysteries in the world.
It's okay if you don't know, but if you learn, you'll enter the world of 'everyday science', which is much more sophisticated!
“How did my hair become curly?”
“Is it true that alcohol cannot be broken down?”
“What is the principle behind DNA used in paternity testing?”

As you explore scientific theories, you will come to know.
Science is very interesting, but it is too profound to approach.
For this reason, we turn our backs on math and science as soon as we graduate from school.
Some say it looks fun but is too difficult, while others ask why they should know something they can't use.
So I prepared.
It looks fun, but I've never really used "science" before. Could it be possible for "science," which seems useful only on a space station, and "everyday life," which is my today and tomorrow, to coexist?

In fact, we live in a world of science without even knowing it.
Let's take a look at 'My Scientific Daily Life' that I didn't even know about through the One Book a Day series.
A new world may unfold.
Additionally, we have brought 'mathematics', the language for understanding science, into the realm of everyday life and organized it so that it can be learned very easily in simple language.
While you can get by without knowing anything, let's explore the vastly more sophisticated realm of "everyday science"! With a little effort, you can easily grasp it anywhere, anytime, and enjoy the immense joy of knowledge.

"One Book a Day, Biotechnology" explains the genome, the basic system of DNA and genes, which was once considered difficult.
Based on a basic understanding of proteins and scientific thinking, it explains the principles of how the systems that make up all living things, including humans, are created.
It even delicately addresses the issue of safety, which has recently become a hot topic due to genetic modification, and logically provides a perspective on what standards consumers should have when understanding radioactive materials and genetic modification.
It also includes a checklist to assess your awareness of genetics and an author's note to help you think about it in terms of real life.
If you've always been interested but haven't been able to easily approach complex concepts, let's read along with a book that explains the basic concepts step by step.

DNA is the name of a chemical compound made up of four 'bases': adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine.
Depending on the order and length of these four bases, or the 'base sequence', compounds with various structures are created.
'Genetic information' refers to the base sequence of DNA like this.
Also, protein is the name of a compound made up of amino acids linked together, and is responsible for many biological functions.
Among genetic information, the part that transfers amino acid information to ‘RNA (ribonucleic acid)’ (transcription) and determines the ‘amino acid sequence’ of a protein is a gene.
--- p.14

The bell is not fixed.
Over time, 'mutations' can occur, causing the entire population, or parts of it, to change and create new species.
Whether a new species survives depends on 'natural selection', which is evolution.
Since life emerged on Earth 3.8 billion years ago, various species have evolved.
There are even claims that 99.99 percent of the species that once inhabited the Earth are already extinct, as the number of species that went extinct during evolution is far greater than the number of species that survive to this day.
When we compare the number of extinct species with the number of living species that we previously thought were diverse, we realize how small the number of species actually is.
Among them, there are quite a few species that humans have driven to extinction.
--- p.30

Protein synthesis occurs through the processes of transcription and translation, and there are three types of RNA involved in transcription and translation.
Transcription is the process by which messenger RNA (mRNA) is synthesized from the genetic region of DNA and occurs within the nucleus.
Additionally, the translation process involving ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and transfer RNA (tRNA) takes place in ribosomes in the cytoplasm.
Ribosomes are particles composed of rRNA and numerous ribosomal proteins and do not have a membrane structure.
Translation is the process of reading the codon information of mRNA in the ribosome and combining amino acids carried by tRNA according to that information to synthesize a protein, and it always starts from the initiation codon, AUG.
Therefore, protein synthesis begins with methionine, one of the amino acids, and ends with one of the stop codons, UAA, UAG, or UGA.
So far, no exceptions to this rule have been found, so it is known as a universal rule that applies to everyone from E. coli to humans.
--- p.70

Viral infection can also result in foreign genes being inserted into the host's genome.
Normally, only the genetic information of the parent cell is transferred during cell division, but viruses multiply by exploiting the property of digging into the host genome, so when a virus attacks, the viral genome is inserted into the host genome.
In addition, genes that move around within the genome, called 'transposons', can also be induced by environmental factors.
Additionally, in cells involved in immunity, such as antibody-producing cells, recombination of antibody-producing genes occurs at the genomic level.
Although somatic cells are said to be cloned cells of fertilized eggs, the genomic DNA within them is surprisingly full of scars.
--- p.92

If a person with the AA genotype drinks alcohol in one gulp, he or she may lose his or her life.
Therefore, forcing such a person to drink alcohol is no different from attempted murder.
Of course, in reality it would be negligent homicide, but unfortunately, if the person who drank it dies, it would be murder (negligent homicide).
Be careful, because if you force someone who cannot drink to drink, you can be charged with coercion; if you do not stop someone from forcing someone to drink, you can be charged with aiding and abetting bodily harm; and if you neglect a drunk colleague, you can be charged with abandonment.
As you know, genes are inherited from parents.
It is unlikely that a mutation will occur during growth and suddenly change the a gene into an A gene.
Whether you are good at drinking or not is recorded in your genes from birth.
So, remember that just because someone who can't drink alcohol trains doesn't mean they'll start drinking well, and just because they can't drink doesn't mean they lack willpower.
--- p.108

Regarding genes, we introduced five types of human genes.
I've intentionally presented the boring base and amino acid sequences to show the full picture of the gene, but there's no need to interpret the specific meaning of the sequences.
The reason I showed the entire sequence was to make it clear that even a single, very small mutation can result in a wide range of phenotypic differences when viewed as a whole.
The five base sequences introduced in this book add up to a total of 9,716.
The human genome is said to be made up of approximately 3 billion bases and contains more than 20,000 genes.
The base sequences presented in this book may seem long, but in fact they represent only 1/310,000th of the human genome.
The genome is a vast amount of information that we cannot even imagine.
--- p.118

This time, we'll look at "DNA testing," a method frequently used in criminal investigations, paternity tests, and determining violations of food labeling obligations.
When identifying individuals, we use repetitive sequences that are frequently found in the genome.
Genetic regions account for about 1 percent of the genome, while duplicated and repetitive sequences account for 53 percent of the remaining regions.
Additionally, a closer look at a single repeat sequence within the genome reveals that the number of repeats varies from person to person.
By selecting several repeating regions with individual differences and finding out how many times each is repeated, we can identify the individual.
Of course, PCR is used in this case as well.
--- p.142

Please don't misunderstand, I'm not saying that all phenotypes are simply determined by a single gene.
Most of them involve multiple genes.
Moreover, genes related to abilities or personality, such as 'genes that show musical talent' or 'genes that determine optimistic personality', have not yet been discovered, and it may be difficult to discover them in the future.

--- p.181