ScienceDaily has recently posted
an article about a new technique in the world of science, known as HaploSeq.
Researcher Bing Ren, Ludwig scientist at the University of California,
San Diego School of Medicine led the team to discover the new technique
for studying DNA sequencing. Current DNA sequencing tools are becoming
faster and cheaper and soon everyone will have their genome sequenced,
but there is one problem with it. Ren states that everyone has two copies
of each chromosome (accept sex). One copy comes from the mom, and the
other comes from the father. The problem is that current technological
techniques do not have any way of distinguishing between the two copies
of each gene, and are not good at determining whether particular genetic
differences come from a person's mother or father. HaploSeq combines
molecular biology and computational biology, which enables researchers
to quickly determine which genetic variants occur together on the same
chromosome, in turn coming from the same parent. This technique will
allow clinicians to better asses a person's risk for disease, by enabling
them to determine if the gene mutations of that disease (ex: cancer)
are on the same chromosome or different chromosomes.
Also, HaploSeq
offers the opportunity to refine the process of determining whether
there is a genetic match between an organ donor and recipient. Genes
express a lot of variability and this technique could help researchers
and scientists determine whether DNA differences between the donor and
recipient are going to be a good match. Furthermore, HaploSeq will also
assist researchers in analyzing human migration and determine ancestry
from their DNA. This technique will allow each individual and how one
relates to other individuals to be studied specifically. As the data
accumulates worldwide, researchers will be able to precisely determine
their relationships. Ren says this study will become a worldwide human
genetic variation, in which will be called the HapMap project.
Overall this
new technique of studying DNA sequences seems like a very promising
study. It will not only help determine which parent a specific gene
comes from, but it will also help with disease risks and allow people
to find the ancestrial relations to other individuals. HaploSeq seems
like a positive triple threat to me. I think it will do great for the
furture.
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