[Genes: movers of life and disease].

Genes are elements of the genetic material (deoxyribonucleic acid, dna). They code for a protein product. The human genome contains 35,000 genes. Half of our genetic information is inherited from our father, the other half from our mother. Mitrochondria and their DNA are entirely of maternal origin, which allowed Bryan Sykes to establish that modern human subjects can be classified into seven different lineages. The seven daughters of Eve, Bryan Sykes, 2001). Some genes code for structural proteins, some others code for regulatory ones. The efficient control of the cell cycle is carried out by numerous "normal" proteins. Some proteins, mutated on "abnormally" regulated are inducers of diseases, such as cancers or degenerative diseases.