Sequenced genomes

Day in the Life: Elena Flowers Photos of her two, young daughters and their painted handprint artwork decorate the office of Elena Flowers, PhD, RN. She is a mom, but she identifies as a researcher and professor too. “In April, I am volunteering at my daughter’s school for DNA Day to talk about my job,” Flowers said. “I appreciate that my job allows me the scheduling flexibility to do that.” While her job allows for flexibility, it can also cause her to work for several hours on a Friday…

Introduction The Human Genome Project was a research program that began in 1990 and took 13 years to complete (1). The project was originally funded by the US Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health. Additionally, many other countries participated, including the UK, Canada, Japan, France, and Germany (1). The overall aim of the Human Genome Project was to completely understand and map out every human gene, the genome (2). The other goals of the program were to determine the…

ideas and innovations started to sprout. Whether it was a new video game console or artificial hearts, the technological industry was taking off. The turn of the century was especially important for the medical field of technology. In 2003, The Human Genome Project was completed sparking the beginning of Personalized Medicine, but what is Personalized Medicine? Personalized Medicine is a new way of treating patients and tailoring treatment for diseases in specific people. According to Margaret…

Thus, they sequenced and assembled genome of a female bonobo named Ulindi. Then, they compared it to genomes of chimpanzees and humans. They found that bonobos and chimpanzees share 99.6% of DNA, and bonobos and humans share 98.7% of DNA, which is close to percent of DNA chimpanzees share with humans, which is also about 99%. Researchers compared genomes of two chimpanzees, bonobo, and human to test for number of shared derived alleles…

The video I reflected on was “Cracking Your Genetic Code”. The documentary begins talking about a flash drive that contains a person’s genetic code. There are 6 billion letters in it and we could have a chance to see genome sequence for $1,000. But there are some ups and downs about it. Some people think it’s invasive because even insurance companies could look at it. But it could predict cancer. This could affect one’s life forever. How well do you want to know yourself? Genomics is almost…

Biochemistry is the “structure and function” within living organisms through chemical processes (Revier). Being able to master the subject is a driven force that grasped my attention to continue pursuing my academics through this major. My interest for the subject grew as I conducted further research to determine the benefits of having a degree in biochemistry and how it would aid me in the long runs by having a successful future. Simultaneously, I enrolled in an Introduction to Biochemistry…

Target article: Green, R.E., Krause, J., Briggs, A.W., Maricic, T., Stenzel, U., Kircher, M. et al. (2010). A draft sequence of the Neandertal genome. Science, 328, 710-722. This study created a draft sequence of approximately 60% of the Neanderthal genome based on nucleotides from three individual Neanderthal samples (Vindija Neanderthal fossils Vi33.16, Vi33.25 and Vi33.26). The study differs from previous attempts to examine Neanderthal DNA as it examines mitochondrial DNA, Y chromosomal…

can be edited into a plants genome or genes to increase drought tolerance. Furthermore, slight tweaks to the genome can produce crops that will be more desirable to consumers and thus enable their producers to earn more money. If the small change is only the removal of a gene, then like the recently edited button mushroom, they are not regulated in the United States1. Mush research into genome editing has been done, yet little involves actual editing of the human genome due to many ethical…

So if genetic testing can be so beneficial, why is it ethically controversial? As President Bill Clinton once said, we must “recognize that this extraordinary march of human understanding imposes on us profound responsibilities, to make sure that the age of discovery can continue to reflect our most cherished values” ("President Clinton 's Comments on the Signing," 2013). Because of its nature, genetic testing leads to a whole host of potential problems including genetic discrimination, the use…

Would you change your unborn child if you had the chance? Would you want your child to have light or dark hair? Perhaps, blue eyes instead of brown or vice versa? How about his or her hobbies? What about their thought process concerning knowledge and intellect? Would you be a parent to take advantage of human gene editing to benefit your child? The purposely changing genes that are passed on to a child and future generations create genetically modified individuals. This gives the opportunity to…