GENOME: Chromosome 10: Stress

In this chapter, ridley talks about how the body, the brain, and the genome are locked together and work together in a way. In Chromosome 10, there is a gene called CYP17 that is supposedly responsible for the synthesis of an enzyme. This enzyme is supposed to help the body change cholesterol (many Americans suffer from this!!) to cortisol,oestradiol, and testosterone. cortisol is released when there is a signal of stres in the brain and sets off a chain that switches the genes on and off. Genes are supposed to regulate the expression of other genes, as Ridley states. Ridley then proceeds to set up a parallel between the human body and the world, saying that the world also has no control center but has many systems that are connected in one way or another.