Genetics is perhaps the largest of the DNA sequencing uses; genetics is the study of how DNA replicates and transfers from parent to offspring. Scientists study genetics to determine how DNA sequences change; how a strand of DNA sunders apart, or 'unzips', how new identical strands come together in DNA for one person, and how they come together differently for DNA that is being used to create offspring. Genetics determines how that offspring will look and operate; how your child will look the same as you, how they will look different than you, and how all their parts will be the same as and yet different from yours.
It's rare for a month to go by without some aspect of DNA sequencing making the headlines. Species after species has seen its genome completed, and the human genome, whether it's from healthy individuals or cancer cells, has received special attention. A dozen or more companies are attempting to bring new sequencing technology to market that could eventually drop the cost of sequencing down to the neighborhood of a new laptop. Arguably, it's one of the hottest high-tech fields on the planet.
But, although these methods can differ, sometimes radically, in how they obtain the sequence of DNA, they're all fundamentally constrained by the chemistry of DNA itself, which is remarkably simple: a long chain of alternating sugars and phosphates, with each sugar linked to one of four bases. Because the chemistry of DNA is so simple, the process of sequencing it is straightforward enough that anyone with a basic understanding of biology can probably understand the fundamentals. The new sequencing hardware may be very complex, but all the complexity is generally there to just sequence lots of molecules in parallel; the actual process remains pretty simple.
The DNA Sequencing Facility provides DNA sequencing, DNA genotyping, and DNA extraction services to clients at public and private institutions. Both Sanger sequencing and next generation sequencing platforms are available, providing inexpensive sequencing of isolated fragments or massively parallel sequencing of random fragments. DNA genotyping services are offered for researchers interested in SNP, T-RFLP, or microsatellite (VNTR, SSR) genotyping.
It's rare for a month to go by without some aspect of DNA sequencing making the headlines. Species after species has seen its genome completed, and the human genome, whether it's from healthy individuals or cancer cells, has received special attention. A dozen or more companies are attempting to bring new sequencing technology to market that could eventually drop the cost of sequencing down to the neighborhood of a new laptop. Arguably, it's one of the hottest high-tech fields on the planet.
But, although these methods can differ, sometimes radically, in how they obtain the sequence of DNA, they're all fundamentally constrained by the chemistry of DNA itself, which is remarkably simple: a long chain of alternating sugars and phosphates, with each sugar linked to one of four bases. Because the chemistry of DNA is so simple, the process of sequencing it is straightforward enough that anyone with a basic understanding of biology can probably understand the fundamentals. The new sequencing hardware may be very complex, but all the complexity is generally there to just sequence lots of molecules in parallel; the actual process remains pretty simple.
The DNA Sequencing Facility provides DNA sequencing, DNA genotyping, and DNA extraction services to clients at public and private institutions. Both Sanger sequencing and next generation sequencing platforms are available, providing inexpensive sequencing of isolated fragments or massively parallel sequencing of random fragments. DNA genotyping services are offered for researchers interested in SNP, T-RFLP, or microsatellite (VNTR, SSR) genotyping.
