[Kim Jaeho's Life Story]<256>The Mystery of DNA Damage and Repair

As genetics has advanced, humanity has uncovered numerous mysterious facts related to genes. A single human cell contains about 3 billion pairs, or 6 billion, of DNA molecules that carry genetic information. These DNA molecules gather in groups ranging from a few hundred to over two million, creating proteins or RNA molecules necessary for the body’s functions, acting like a kind of program. In genetics, such groups of DNA that perform specific functions are called genes.

Genetics, which studies genes, has identified more than 20,000 genes within a single cell and has clearly explained mysterious phenomena that were once poorly understood before the existence of genes was known. It has also explained that living organisms possess unique characteristics encoded in their genes, pass these unique traits on to their offspring, and that genes play a central role in all activities during an organism’s lifetime.

All our activities, including resting and sleeping, require the production of necessary proteins or RNA molecules. To produce a specific protein or RNA molecule, the switch of the gene responsible for that function must be appropriately turned on. However, this switching on of necessary genes is not something we do consciously; it happens inside our bodies without our awareness.

For example, when we eat carbohydrate-rich food, digestive enzymes called amylases must be produced in the salivary glands and pancreas. To do this, the gene switches that produce amylase in these organs must be turned on. Yet, no one directly flips these switches. So how does this happen inside our bodies without our knowledge?

Amylase, which digests carbohydrates, is only needed when carbohydrate food is consumed, so the gene switches producing amylase do not need to be on 24 hours a day. Genes only need to be activated in the necessary environment, such as when carbohydrate food is eaten. This mechanism is perfectly designed within the genes and can be explained by almighty intelligence. The author refers to this almighty intelligence designed into genes as the “best master doctor prepared inside my body.”

Alongside the mysteries of genes created by DNA described above, another mystery related to genes can be found in DNA damage and the repair of damaged DNA. According to scientific research, cells in our body can experience damage to up to one million DNA molecules daily out of the 6 billion DNA molecules that make up the cell. If damaged DNA remains unrepaired, the genes with damaged DNA cannot perform their functions properly.

Genes contain a mysterious program perfectly prepared to repair damaged DNA back to its original normal state, allowing us to live healthily day by day. Inside our bodies, all cells identify damaged DNA, cut out the damaged parts, and insert newly synthesized DNA in their place, restoring the gene to a complete state without damaged DNA.

Our bodies primarily use resting periods to repair damaged DNA. Cells with excessive DNA damage do not undergo repair but instead die by themselves, a process called apoptosis. The space left by dead cells is filled by regenerating new cells, maintaining the integrity of cells. This is the second mystery related to genes that can only be explained by almighty intelligence, and the author also calls this the “best master doctor prepared inside my body.”

Here, an important fact to note is that the number of damaged DNA molecules and the extent to which damaged DNA is repaired depend on our lifestyle habits. If we maintain good lifestyle habits, the number of damaged DNA molecules decreases, and the best master doctor repairs damaged DNA well. Conversely, poor lifestyle habits increase DNA damage and make it harder for the best master doctor to repair damaged DNA effectively.

If DNA molecules inside cells are excessively damaged or if the genes responsible for repairing damaged cells fail to function properly, resulting in many unrepaired cells, the functions of tissues or organs with many such cells weaken, leading to various diseases. Which disease we develop depends on which gene among the genes is damaged and fails to be restored to its original normal state.

With the advancement of genetics, it has been revealed that genes with damaged DNA that are not repaired inside cells are the cause of diseases. The Human Genome Project, completed in 2003, showed a genetic map indicating which gene on which chromosome causes which disease when problems arise (for example, people with lung cancer have damaged or mutated genes at the top of chromosome 3, and obese individuals have damaged or mutated genes at the bottom of chromosome 7).

Genetics has also informed us that since the cause of all diseases afflicting humanity is gene damage, to prevent and cure diseases, we must minimize damage to the DNA that makes up genes and maintain good lifestyle habits that allow damaged DNA to be properly repaired.

Unfortunately, modern medicine ignores this important truth and shows little interest in good lifestyle habits that minimize DNA damage and promote proper repair of damaged DNA. Instead, it remains fixated on symptom treatment methods used before genes were understood, which have no relation to minimizing DNA damage or repairing damaged DNA. Naturally, most diseases do not heal well.

For example, if a person develops lung cancer, it is because genes at the top of chromosome 3 in lung cells have problems. To address this, the person should change poor lifestyle habits to resolve these issues. However, if the lung is surgically removed, the person lives with a disabled lung, and chemotherapy kills some cancer cells but also harms normal cells, so the cancer cannot be cured effectively.

How healthily we live depends on how well the best master doctor inside our body works. How well this master doctor works depends on how well we create a good environment inside our body for it to function. Therefore, to maintain our health in the best condition, we must adopt good lifestyle habits, which is what Newstart (see Life Story Part 6) is all about.

Independent Researcher

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.