This post was from a very early assignment from the beginning of the year. I picked to highlight this assignment because I get to practice how to write a layperson’s paragraph for my final project.
Limb malformation is an important model of gene expression control during the development of an embryo. These diseases are generally a result of a mutation in the DNA which causes some genes to be expressed too much or too little. For an example, if there is too much expression of a certain gene, you may end up with more than five fingers on one hand. Limb development is a good model system to study because it is easy to identify what went wrong during development. For instance, each finger on our hand is different from one another. These differences are due to the different genes being expressed at different locations and time when the baby is developing inside their mother. If we compare the DNA of a patient without thumbs to a normal person, we may be able to find the genes responsible for developing thumbs through the differences in their DNA. It is important to study these diseases to understand how normal limb development works. This allows us to understand what mutations are causing these diseases and by looking for these mutations in a person’s DNA, you may be able to inform potential parents about having children with these deformities. Studying limb development can help researchers find what elements in the DNA are responsible for malformations and can improve methods to identify these elements.
Note: It was difficult to identify what is truly important for the general public to know. There needs to be a balance between being detailed enough to be able to explain my points and not going too in depth which you would need a biology background to understand.