28 Aug 12
1 edit
Originally posted by sonhouseThat's nothing, I read 'DNA' in about 0.1 of a second!
http://phys.org/news/2012-08-advance-near-instantaneous-dna-analysis.html
This development could put DNA analysis in every country doc's office.
The police state is gonna have some fun with this one. I give it a year before
it's implemented in airports.
'Beer, the cause of and solution to all of life's problems'
Homer J Simpson
28 Aug 12
Originally posted by sonhouseThe ready availability of DNA analysis will be a major revolution. It will affect us in ways we haven't yet dreamed about, but some of the things I can think of are:
http://phys.org/news/2012-08-advance-near-instantaneous-dna-analysis.html
This development could put DNA analysis in every country doc's office.
1. As mentioned in the article, the ability to identify diseases quickly and accurately.
2. The ability to identify genetic diseases and susceptibilities.
3. Far greater knowledge of the micro-organisms on our bodies and their benefits and detriments.
4. Far quicker and easier identification and classification of species.
5. It may even have major social implications for example it will become quite easy for a father to check whether his children are really his.
28 Aug 12
Originally posted by sonhouseFor all future spouses I think I should do a DNA test first. The question is whether or not our knowledge of DNA is good enough yet to actually decide what is good DNA for our children and what is not. And do we do compatibility tests with our own DNA?
And of course we all know, to get the bests genetics, choose the right parents🙂
28 Aug 12
2 edits
Originally posted by twhiteheadPoint 3, I'd like to pick up on.
The ready availability of DNA analysis will be a major revolution. It will affect us in ways we haven't yet dreamed about, but some of the things I can think of are:
1. As mentioned in the article, the ability to identify diseases quickly and accurately.
2. The ability to identify genetic diseases and susceptibilities.
3. Far greater knowledge of the m ...[text shortened]... or example it will become quite easy for a father to check whether his children are really his.
Another emerging field due to the spin-off tech's from the Human Genome is metagenomics
(the study of soil and sea samples (although, not limited to)).
The bottleneck at the moment is disseminating the information fast
enough to match the speed at which we're bringing it in
It's not the size of the data itself but the processing power required to unravel it
and categories/analyse it.
For example, did you know that you can fit the information to store
35 peoples entire DNA sequences onto a standard CD?!
28 Aug 12
Originally posted by Thequ1ck20 megs per person?
Point 3, I'd like to pick up on.
Another emerging field due to the spin-off tech's from the Human Genome is metagenomics
(the study of soil and sea samples (although, not limited to)).
The bottleneck at the moment is disseminating the information fast
enough to match the speed at which we're bringing it in
It's not the size of the data itself but ...[text shortened]... t you can fit the information to store
35 peoples entire DNA sequences onto a standard CD?!
29 Aug 12
1 edit
Originally posted by Thequ1ckI don't think they even call it junk DNA anymore, I think they are called codons now, something like that.
Actually, my previous post was misleading, sorry. This is only information about the
coding sequences.
To store the entire genome is about 2-30 Terabytes (according to the article).
Personally, I think junk DNA is much more of interest.
Maybe not, here is a WIKI about junk dna:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noncoding_DNA
29 Aug 12
Originally posted by sonhouseJunk DNA is particularly telling of our ancestry as it contains information about our
I don't think they even call it junk DNA anymore, I think they are called codons now, something like that.
Maybe not, here is a WIKI about junk dna:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noncoding_DNA
past. Genes which fulfilled their purpose and were eventually switched off and left
to decay over time.
It's the ghost in the machine. It's the left-over bits when you've fixed the VCR.
There is a wealth of history stored in our junk DNA about our past and the genes
that used to be important for our survival.
29 Aug 12
Originally posted by Thequ1ckThose same genes might be repository of survival techniques like reaction to cold or heat or other environmental stresses. They may activate when the person is confronted by some unusual condition.
Junk DNA is particularly telling of our ancestry as it contains information about our
past. Genes which fulfilled their purpose and were eventually switched off and left
to decay over time.
It's the ghost in the machine. It's the left-over bits when you've fixed the VCR.
There is a wealth of history stored in our junk DNA about our past and the genes
that used to be important for our survival.
29 Aug 12
3 edits
Originally posted by sonhousePrecisely. Although the Intron sequences themselves lack the necessary codons to
Those same genes might be repository of survival techniques like reaction to cold or heat or other environmental stresses. They may activate when the person is confronted by some unusual condition.
for transcription. They do contain binding elements which can play an important
role in DNA expression.
When the Human genome project was complete it came as a surprise how fewer genes
there were compared to expectations. The reason is that many genes are recombinant.
(It's precisely what it sounds like, mis-matching gene sequences together to provide combinations)
This is especially true in the immune system which gives rise to our ability to
resist so many types of disease.
It is a myth, for example, that if an Alien came to earth we could be infected with Alien viruses
and/or bacteria. Alien viruses capable of attacking our immune systems would
stand the same or even less advantage than the pathogens we already have on
earth, even if they were designed to utilize our cellular apparatus.
'The most common type of intron is called a spliceosomal or nuclear intron; the name comes from the cellular machinery, known as the spliceosome, which is responsible for splicing and making sure that the genetic sequences in introns are not translated into junk proteins. This type of intron is the one found in the nuclear genes of humans........
There are also cases in which introns contain genes for small nuclear RNA, which is important for the translation of messenger RNA, an intermediary between DNA and proteins. Nuclear introns can also be important in a process called alternative splicing, which can produce multiple types of messenger RNA from a single gene. Although these examples demonstrate a constructive role for introns, they cannot explain why introns are so ubiquitous in our genes..'
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-is-known-about-the-f
It has been shown that the IME (intron-mediated enhancement) is particularly
sensitive to changes in the concentration of nucleotides.
'Not all introns enhance gene expression, but those that do typically enhance expression between 2– and 10–fold relative to an intronless control.'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intron-mediated_enhancement
'The sequences of the enhancing UBQ10 intron and the non-enhancing COR15a intron were modified to create large alterations in IMEter score via minimal nucleotide changes.'
http://nar.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/03/22/nar.gkr043.long
So changes such as diet or sunlight can alter the production of some nucleotides
and thereby influence protein synthesis by moderating Intron Mediated Enhancement.