{"id":296663,"date":"2021-07-12T12:00:03","date_gmt":"2021-07-12T09:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/researchers-discover-better-way-to-identify-dna-variants\/"},"modified":"2021-07-12T12:00:03","modified_gmt":"2021-07-12T09:00:03","slug":"researchers-discover-better-way-to-identify-dna-variants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/researchers-discover-better-way-to-identify-dna-variants\/","title":{"rendered":"#Researchers discover better way to identify DNA variants"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Researchers discover better way to identify DNA variants<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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\n 3D-model of DNA. Credit: Michael Str\u00f6ck\/Wikimedia<\/a>\/ GNU Free Documentation License
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USC researchers have achieved a better way to identify elusive DNA variants responsible for genetic changes affecting cell functions and diseases.<\/p>\n


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Using computational biology tools, scientists at the university’s Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Science<\/a>s studied “variable-number tandem repeats” (VNTR) in DNA. VNTRs are stretches of DNA made of a short pattern of nucleotides repeated over and over, like a plaid pattern shirt. Though they comprise but 3% of the human genome, the repetitive DNA governs how some genes are encoded and levels of proteins are produced in a cell, and account for most of the structural variation.<\/p>\n

Current methods do not accurately detect the variations in genes in some repetitive sequences. The new method by the USC scientists can detect variants among different populations of people and how it they affect gene expression, which helps to discover links between VNTR variation and traits or disease.<\/p>\n

“This type of repetitive DNA has been called ‘dark matter’ of the human genome because it has been difficult to sequence and analyze how it varies,” said Mark Chaisson, assistant professor of quantitative and computational biology and corresponding author of the study. “We showed that variation in dark matter can have a substantial effect on cellular processes, so future studies may use this app<\/a>roach to understand the genetic basis of disease and ways to improve our health.”<\/p>\n

The study was published in Nature Communications<\/i> on July 12.<\/p>\n

The study also says:<\/p>\n