Genome sequencing and its importance (Part 11- CRISPR in gene editing and beyond)
Welcome to the 11th part of the multi-part series on applications of CRISPR in gene editing and beyond. In this series, we will understand the CRISPR/Cas system and how it can be used for gene editing and other purposes. But before doing that, it is important to understand basic molecular biology concepts, which will be discussed in the first 13 articles of the series.
Thanks to DNA sequencing, because of which we know the genetic causes of many diseases. DNA sequencing is a process that enables scientists to read and record the contents of the human genome nucleotide by nucleotide. We have already discussed that there are 23 pairs of chromosomes within a normal cell. Chromosomes are the structures that house DNA which is made up of four chemical bases: A, G, C, and T, shorthand for the adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Like in the case of computers, where the data is stored in 0 and 1 binary digits, in human DNA, the code of life is stored in the 4 chemical bases or nucleotides A, T, G, and C. Altogether, our DNA contains about 12 billion such chemical bases. Sequencing the genome means reading and recording the contents of the human genome nucleotide by nucleotide and then determining the identity of the 12 billion nucleotides that compose the human genome. The first sequencing methods were developed in the 1970s. After completing the sequence of the human genome in 2001, scientists have identified around 4000 different kinds of DNA mutations that can cause genetic diseases. The sequencing of the genome can be helpful in an enormous number of ways. For instance,
(i) Genome sequencing has the potential to reveal if an individual is at an elevated risk of developing cancer or any other genetic diseases. For example, a mutation in the APOE gene increases the chances of Alzheimer’s disease by 2 to 3 fold. And people with a mutation in the gene MYBPC3 may be at risk of suffering from the thickening of the heart muscle. But the good news is that some people with these variants may actually be able to reduce their risk of getting the related disease through lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise and through treatment, including gene editing.
(ii) Genome sequencing can also help in designing personalized medicines for individuals. For instance, what genes are misregulated in cancer patients allows physicians to select the best chemotherapy and potentially expose the patient to less toxic treatment.
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