Applications of Bioinformatics Flashcards
What is bioinformatics?
The use of computers and alogorithms to collect and interpret biological information at the molecular level.
What is PCR?
Polymerase Chain Reaction- technique that enables the amplification of a specific segment of DNA, producing many copies of that particular DNA sequence.
DNA Microarray
A tool that checks many genes at once, helping to understand how genes are active or inactive in a sample, like healthy versus diseased tissue, by sticking small DNA pieces to a slide or chip.
DNA sequencing
a laboratory technique used to determine the precise order of nucleotides (adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine, often abbreviated as A, T, C, and G) in a DNA molecule.
DNA fingerprinting
a technique used to analyze and compare unique patterns in an individual’s DNA.
What is required for PCR?
Target DNA
Primers
TAQ DNA polymerase
Three nucleotides
What are the three main steps in PCR?
Denaturation, annealing and extension
What happens in denaturation?
Heating the DNA sample to around 94°C separates the double-stranded DNA into two single strands, breaking the hydrogen bonds between complementary bases.
What happens in annealing?
Cooling the previously heated strands, allows DNA primers to bind to the specific segment of dna that we want to amplify.
What happens in extension?
DNA polymerase synthesizes a new DNA strand by extending the primers, using the nucleotides to replicating the target sequence.
What is DNA sequencing?
Allows researchers to find the exact sequence of nucleotides within a DNA molecule.
What is needed for sequencing?
Primers
dNTPs
fluorescnt labelled ddNTP
sequencer
Polymerase
Something to separate the fragments
Markers of DNA includes:
A restriction enzyme
What is a restriction enzyme?
a type of protein that recognizes specific DNA sequences and cuts the DNA at or near these recognition sites in RFLP.
What are Microsatellites?
These are short tandem repeats that are variable between individuals.
