Genomics Conference

Front 1

What are the benefits of the human genome project?

Back 1

-allows rapid mapping of dissease genes (through comparative genomics)

-helps discover new genes

-helps suggest candidate genes and genetic markers for cloning disease genes

-Sequence of the DNA may facilitate finding identifying mutations responsible for disease

-technology advance
bioinformatics - computer programs to organize and access the data
automoation - high throughput technology and robotics
nanotechnology - getting useful data from really small amounts of material

Front 2

bioinformatics

Back 2

computer programs to organize and access the data

Front 3

nanotechnology

Back 3

getting useful data from really small amounts of material

Front 4

4 limitations of the HGS and how each was overcome

Back 4

1. problem is that only 5% of the genome actualy encodes genes

-answer use a computer program to predict where the exons are

2. problem we don't know what the function of the gene is

-ans: do experiments on model animals

3. how do we figure out the significance of noncoding info

-ans: use comparative genomics because often conserved in other animals

4.sequence doesn't reveal info about gene expression patterns

ans: use a microarray - gene expression array to establish which gene expression profiles or signatures for normal tissu functions or disease states

Front 5

What is gene expression profiling?

Back 5

-using a computer model to separate patients into diff prediction outcomes (calculate SURVIVAL OUTCOME)
uses MICROARRAY ANALYSIS

e.g. Non-hodgekins' lymphoma

Front 6

microarrays

Back 6

-used to measure gene expression
-often using a full length cDNA chip or an oligo chip
-BY detecting the quantity fo fluorescent molecules attached at one spot, one can infer the relative abundance of the complementary mRNA molecules.

-each gene expression array is a grid consisting of thoughsands of distinc cells with probes from diff genes

Front 7

Advantages of Microarrays (and a disadvantage )

Back 7

-fast efficient can do 20,000 genes in 4 weeks
-comprehensive - can put entire human genome on one plate
-easy -submit RNA samples to a core facility
-flexible, can change the array so that is taylored to your specific experiment

VERY EXPENSIVE

Front 8

question frequently addresed using microarrays

Back 8

-to look at gene expression
and to compare NORMAL cells to DISEASED cells

(ie. use two samples one from normal (green) & one from diseased (red). red regions means really only expressed in diseased state, green means really only expressed in normal state, yellow means expressed in both).

Front 9

explain use of microarrays for non-hodgekins lymphoma

Back 9

-use a lympho chip -contains genes expressed in lymphoid cells

-used to distinguish between two morphologically indistinguishable patients with non-hodgekins lymphoma that have very different predictated disease state outcomes

Front 10

Where do ES cells come from?

Back 10

-can be isolated from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst

-can also be harvested from adult tissue (but these are scarcer and have less potential than embryotic stem cells & they are scarcer and harder to find

Front 11

What are the promises of stem cell research?

Back 11

-drug toxicity testing -

-gene control studies - basically loss of function and gain of function studies

-tissue replacement therapy with the possibility of a renewable source of replacement tissues - the promise of an unlimited supply of tissues to replace disease tissues

Front 12

cells harvested from the placenta are ...

Back 12

adult stem cells - weird to think about

Front 13

what diseases could be effected by stem cell replacement therapies?

Back 13

-diabetes
-parkinsons
-muscular dystrophy
-sickle cell disease
-heart disease
-spinal cord injury

Front 14

what are the major problems with tissue cell replacement therapies?

potential solution

Back 14

-donor recipient compatability and graft rejection

-potentially solving
-have a gene bank
- genetic modification of stem cells to improve compatibiilty
-therapeutic clong - nuclear transfer to alleviate compatibility problems

Front 15

-therapeutic cloning -

Back 15

-therapeutic cloning - nuclear transfer to alleviate compatibility problems

Front 16

What is the difference between nuclear transplantation and human reproductive cloning?

Back 16

-nuclear transplant, cells are grown in a petri dish, takes one week, is for disease tissue experiments, doesn't require a mother, doesn't produce a human, has similar medical and ethical implications to all stem cell research

-human cloning - make a baby, takes 9 months, requires surrogate mother, tough ethical questions, long term safety and efficacy unknown

Front 17

what needs to be done to improve stem cell research

Back 17

- need to develop better techniques for isolating and growing stem cells in culture (methods of purification need improvement)

-need to address safety issues

-overcome technical obstacles