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Segments of DNA Control protein production Proteins Molecules of amino acids Can affect behaviour

Chromosome with detail of gene segments.

Genes are portions of the DNA that are resonsible for controling the production of proteins in your body. We often say that genes "code" for protein production. That is, when a cell needs to make a protein for a whatever reason there is a mechanism through which the appropriate gene on the DNA is consulted and the required protein produced.

Because we are constructed pretty much entirely from complex groupings of proteins we also often say that it is the genes that determine who and what we are. This isn't entirely true, as it is really the interaction of our genes (or, more generally speaking our genetics) with the environment that determines who we are and what we can do.