Weil is less enthusiastic about white, or button, mushrooms, a species of mushroom that also includes Portobellos and criminis. âButton mushrooms do possess some health benefits, but not the general health benefits found in Asian mushrooms,â Weil says.
What sort of information do they encode, and how can this affect a cell's characteristics and activities? Some genes enable cells to make proteins needed for basic functions; dubbed housekeeping genes, they are active in many types of cells. Other genes, however, are inactive most of the time. Some genes play a role in early development of the embryo and are then shut down forever. Many genes encode proteins that are unique to a particular kind of cell and that give the cell its character - making a brain cell, say, different from a bone cell. A normal cell activates just the genes it needs at the moment and actively suppresses the rest.
Genes. A gene is a length of DNA that codes for a specific protein. So, for example, one gene will code for the protein insulin, which is important role in helping your body to control the amount of sugar in your blood. Genes are the basic unit of genetics. Human beings have 20,000 to 25,000 genes.These genes account for only about 3 per cent of our DNA. The function of the remaining 97 per cent is still not clear, although scientists think it may have something to do with controlling the genes.enes are made of a chemical called DNA, which is short for 'deoxyribonucleic acid'. The DNA molecule is a double helix: that is, two long, thin strands twisted around each other like a spiral staircase.