Genome

at the University of Pennsylvania due to lack of informed consent and eligibility criteria for participation. Human genome project is other issue that is of major concern to privacy breach. With the advanced technology in genome sequencing and analysis, we are now able to decipher human genome. However, this leads to problems like patient future health concerns. One his/her genome sequence was known, using current bio-informatics databases we can predict about any possible development of…

The benefits and risks of the scientific method of genetically modifying crop species Since the emergence of agriculture over 10,000 years ago, humans have been altering the genomes of the crops they produce in order to increase the crop quality in many ways, with fruit size and palatability being two obvious examples. Whether this occurred incidentally through the techniques used to cultivate the plants or intentionally through artificial selection, humans have created strains of domesticated…

Sydney Brenner proposed C. elegans as a model system for studies of development and neurobiology. Researchers share their findings in C. elegans genome via the internet with other researchers from around the world. The process of sharing the genome database on the world wide web provides a working framework for researchers who are working on the human genome project In 1969, John Sulston developed a technique to freeze and thaw the worm. As a result, the numbers and availability of both wild…

result of growth and development processes and has limited contribution from environmental factors (Weedon, et al., 2008). As a result, loci influencing height are compared and contrasted from different races. Genome-wide association (GWA) is a method used to quickly scan markers across genomes (complete set of DNA). GWA data was used from 4,921 individuals of Caucasian descent (Weedon, et al., 2008). A common variant, also known as single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), was identified. It was…

these single gene mutations that are lethal, extremely dangerous, or unbearable to the human race. Harlequin ichthyosis, cystic fibrosis and Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome are all caused by single genes and can potentially be edited out of the human genome. Harlequin ichthyosis (HI) is a dangerous condition that is predominantly characterized by abnormal skin. Children with HI are born with very thick, hard skin that forms diamond patterns on the body. Between these diamonds of thick skin there…

These vectors contain a 4.7 kilobase DNA genome, and they are created by inserting the desired gene along with promoters and helper genes into the virus where the viral DNA would normally be found. Once the AAV reaches a target cell, the virus synthesizes a second strand of DNA to be paired with…

works and basic genome sequences it would manipulate. I however did not know too much information about it since it is relatively a new topic and new discoveries being coming to light daily. Therefore I did my research and chose this topic in order to get a better knowledge about a technology that will change the world in the future. There were a few things I had in mind before I started my research and acquired better knowledge about my topic. When we’re talking about human genome we’re talking…

Although PacBio sequencing could generate much longer reads than SGS, the throughput is its weakness. There are 150,000 ZMWs on a single SMRT RSII cell, each of which could produce one polymerase read or CCS read. Typically, only 35,000~70,000 of 150,000 ZMWs on one cell could successfully produce reads due to either the failure to anchor a polymerase or loading more than one polymerase in a ZMW. Therefore, the typical throughput of the PacBio RS II system is about 0.5-1 billion bases (0.5-1 G)…

Epigenetics translates to “above the genome”, according to Epigenetics article on PBS. Above the genome refers to external modifications to DNA that turn genes “on” and “off”. Although modifications don’t change the sequence per se, it changes the way the cells “read” genes. Essentially, this is what differentiates genetics from epigenetics. Going further into detail, genetics conceptually deal with gene and gene function. This focuses on how DNA sequences make changes in the cell. However,…

have quickly evaluated for the forty last years and their finding was joined by breakthroughs in the field of Molecular biology (1). The first efficient method to sequencing DNA was found by F.Sanger in 1977 (2). But the huge desire to sequencing genomes required faster methods and many improvements were made. Fluorescence, capillary electrophoresis and microarrays led to a new way for sequencing genes : the Next Generation Sequencing (NGS). How do Sanger technique and NGS work ? What are their…