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In an improvement likely to improve the procedure for matching organ donors and understanding how genes contribute to diseases, researchers have devised a technique that can help determine whether or otherwise a particular genetic sequence came from an individual’s mother or father.
The technique, that was produced by experts in the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and it is described within the latest edition of the journal Nature Biotechnology, helps address a longstanding challenge when it comes to genome sequencing C discovering which traits come from which parent. The authors think that the strategy could improve personalized medicine.
“The technique will enable clinicians to higher assess a person’s individual risk for disease. It is potentially transformative for personalized medicine,” explained Bing Ren, a Ludwig scientist working in the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. “Current sequencing technology is fast and rapidly getting cheaper- within the forseeable future, everyone’s genome is going to be sequenced. Which will end up being the standard of care.”
However, Ren said, there’s a potential problem with that scenario. Except for sex chromosomes, each person has two copies of every chromosome C one copy coming from their mother, and also the other using their father. Current sequencing technology cannot distinguish between the 2 copies of every gene, and thus have a problem determining whether particular genetic differences originate with a person’s mom or dad.
That’s where the new technique, HaploSeq, is available in. HaploSeq is explained the research authors as a combination of molecular and computational biology, and allows researchers to find out which genetic variants occur together on the same stretch of a chromosome. That knowledge will easily notice set up variations came from the same patent, which discovery will have “profound effects on genetic research and discovery,” based on Siddarth Selvaraj, part of the research team from UC San Diego.
“More immediately, the technique will enable clinicians to better assess a person’s individual risk for disease, a cornerstone of personalized medicine,” the Ludwig Institute said inside a statement Sunday. “For instance, people in danger of a disease such as cancer usually have more than one DNA mutation. HaploSeq could enable clinicians to determine when the two mutations take presctiption exactly the same chromosome or on different chromosomes, which can help in risk assessment C for example, risk may be reduced if two mutations take presctiption the same chromosome.”
In addition, with some additional fine-tuning, the technique could also streamline the process of getting a genetic match between a body organ donor and the patient in need of the transplant. A large number of genes contribute to donor-recipient compatibility, the authors note. However, there is lots of genetic variability in those genes, and the HaploSeq method can lead to the development of a DNA database that would make it easier to determine whether or not a donor would be a good genetic match to a patient in need of a body organ transplant.
“In principal, you can compare your genetic sequence to your neighbor’s and ask for those who have any recent ancestors in common,” Ren said. “With our technique we are able to study every individual and how they relate to others. As we accumulate data from many people we are able to more precisely determine their relationships- I anticipate that this new method is going to be quite popular.”
