What is the difference between a gene and a protein?
A gene is a segment of DNA containing instructions for manufacturing a certain protein in the cell. Proteins are essentially chains of building blocks called amino acids, which are obtained (in animals) from protein-containing foods. An animal breaks apart proteins from food into these building blocks, then reassembles them in a different order to make its own proteins. There are virtually no biological functions which are not dependent in some way on proteins. Each gene tells the cell how to put together the building blocks for one specific protein. The terminology can be somewhat confusing. Dysferlin is a protein, and “the dysferlin gene” means “the gene which contains the instructions for producing the dysferlin protein.” The actual name for this gene is Dysf. Usually, when a protein is not properly produced, it is because there is some mutation in the gene which contains its instructions. When the instructions are wrong, the defective protein will not carry out its normal function
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