7. Personalised medicine

Question 1

What is PCR testing and what is this used for?

Answer 1

Polymerise chain reaction testing - used to amplify strands of DNA/RNA for use for analysis

Question 2

What are the causes of abnormal development of cells?

Answer 2

Abnormal histone modifications
Abnormal gene methylation
Abnormal protein folding or post-translational-modifications

Question 3

What is Sanger sequencing?

Answer 3

This is the original sequencing method

Question 4

What are the disadvantages of Sanger sequencing?

Answer 4

Can only sequence a very small portion of the genome

Not quantitive

Question 5

What are the advantages of Sanger sequencing?

Answer 5

Inexpensive

Fast

Question 6

Why is there a need for personalised medicine?

Answer 6

One size does not fit all - many drugs do not work in the same way for everyone

Question 7

Give a specific example of a cancer where one size does not fit all

Answer 7

Follicular lymphoma