Category Archives: DNA

Consumer genetics and genealogy company Ancestry will soon be able to show its customers which side of the family any DNA matches found through the service come from. The new feature will be launched this week. Its based on SideView technology, which the company announced in April, reports The Verge.

Were really excited to see what users can do with this parental matches feature, says Caitlyn Bruns, a population geneticist at Ancestry. I do think it will really help unlock an understanding of how youre connected with your matches.

The feature will allow users to more easily see where matches fall on their family tree. Previously, people could manually place people on one side of their family as they learned more about their matches. Now it will happen automatically. SideView technology uses Ancestrys vast DNA database to sort out which parts of a persons genome come from each parent. When it first launched, it allowed users to see which parts of their ethnicity came from each parent. Ancestry claims that SideView can be 95% accurate for 90% of customers.

Next, Ancestry plans to expand SideView with a community feature that connects people with groups of other users who may be descended from people who lived in the same area as their ancestors, says Bruns. Itll group those communities by the parental side. Once launched, the new DNA Match feature will be available to users automatically when they log into their account.

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Ancestry customers can find out where their DNA comes from - Mezha.Media

Scientists say they have managed to genetically modify mosquitoes so that they are unable to spread malaria, a disease that kills well over half a million people each year.

The changes cause mosquitoes to live shorter lives, while the parasites inside them, which cause the fatal infection, develop more slowly

This slashes the chances of mosquitoes living long enough to carry fully grown parasites and transmit the disease to the humans they bite.

Malaria is spread by the parasite Plasmodium falciparum, which grows and reaches maturation inside the female Anopheles mosquito. The average mosquito survives on average seven to 10 days in the wild.

"Most mosquitoes never have the chance to transmit the parasite. It's only 10 per cent of the mosquitoes out there that live long enough to be able to transmit the parasite," said Professor George Christophides, of Imperial College London.

"By prolonging the developmental time that the parasite needs inside the mosquito to become infectious, this 10 per cent becomes now much smaller".

"At the same time, we managed to cut the mosquito's life a bit short. So the two things combined together now can lead to blocking malaria transmission in the field," he added.

However, the fight against malaria is far from over.

In order for the mosquitoes with modified DNA to survive and propagate widely in nature, they need to defy natural selection.

"These modifications make them weaker because they live shorter. So they will be eliminated naturally by natural selection after a few generations... unless you combine it with what we call the 'gene drive,' which will take this modification and spread it quickly through the populations," Christophides said.

Gene drive is a type of genetic engineering which favours specific hereditary characteristics to increase the likelihood that these are quickly spread through the population and passed on to the next generation, according to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

The researchers believe that such a "gene drive" will allow all mosquitoes to eventually carry the same modification of their DNA within a few generations.

However, it raises questions about whether massively releasing GM mosquitoes is safe for people, animals, or the environment.

For more on this story, watch the video in the media player above.

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Scientists are manipulating the DNA of mosquitoes to fight the spread of malaria - Euronews

As a rapidly advancing climate emergency turns the planet ever hotter, the Dallas-based biotechnology company Colossal Biosciences has a vision: To see the Woolly Mammoth thunder upon the tundra once again. Founders George Church and Ben Lamm have already racked up an impressive list of high-profile funders and investors, including Peter Thiel, Tony Robbins, Paris Hilton, Winklevoss Capital and, according to the public portfolio its venture capital arm released this month, the CIA.

Colossal says it hopes to use advanced genetic sequencing to resurrect two extinct mammals not just the giant, ice age mammoth, but also a mid-sized marsupial known as the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, that died out less than a century ago. On its website, the company vows: Combining the science of genetics with the business of discovery, we endeavor to jumpstart natures ancestral heartbeat.

In-Q-Tel, its new investor, is registered as a nonprofit venture capital firm funded by the CIA. On its surface, the group funds technology startups with the potential to safeguard national security. In addition to its long-standing pursuit of intelligence and weapons technologies, the CIA outfit has lately displayed an increased interest in biotechnology and particularly DNA sequencing.

Why the interest in a company like Colossal, which was founded with a mission to de-extinct the wooly mammoth and other species? reads an In-Q-Tel blog post published on September 22. Strategically, its less about the mammoths and more about the capability.

Biotechnology and the broader bioeconomy are critical for humanity to further develop. It is important for all facets of our government to develop them and have an understanding of what is possible, Colossal co-founder Ben Lammwrote in an email to The Intercept. (A spokesperson for Lamm stressed that while Thiel provided Church with$100,000 in funding to launchthe woolly mammoth project that became Colossal, he is not a stakeholderlike Robbins, Hilton, Winklevoss Capital, and In-Q-Tel.)

Colossal uses CRISPR gene editing, a method of genetic engineering based on a naturally occurring type of DNA sequence. CRISPR sequences present on their own in some bacterial cells and act as an immune defense system, allowing the cellto detect and excise viral material thattries to invade. The eponymous gene editing technique was developed to function the same way, allowing users to snip unwanted genes and program a more ideal version of the genetic code.

CRISPR is the use of genetic scissors, Robert Klitzman, a bioethicist at Columbia University and a prominent voice of caution on genetic engineering, told The Intercept. Youre going into DNA, which is a 3-billion-molecule-long chain, and clipping some of it out and replacing it. You can clip out bad mutations and put in good genes, but these editing scissors can also take out too much.

The embrace of this technology, according to In-Q-Tels blog post, will help allow U.S. government agencies to read, write, and edit genetic material, and, importantly, tosteerglobal biological phenomena that impact nation-to-nation competition whileenabling the United States to help set the ethical, as well as the technological, standards for its use.

In-Q-Tel did not respond to The Intercepts requests for comment.

In recent years, the venture firms portfolio has expanded to include Ginkgo Bioworks, a bioengineering startup focused on manufacturing bacteria for biofuel and other industrial uses; Claremont BioSolutions, a firm that produces DNA sequencing hardware; Biomatrica and T2 Biosystems, two manufacturers for DNA testing components; and Metabiota, an infectious disease mapping and risk analysis database powered by artificial intelligence. As The Intercept reported in 2016, In-Q-Tel also invested in Clearista, a skincare brand that removes a thin outer epidermal layer to reveal a fresher face beneath it and allow DNA collection from the skin cells scraped off.

President Joe Bidens administration signaled its prioritization of related advances earlier this month, when Biden signed an executive order on biotechnology and biomanufacturing. The order includes directives to spur public-private collaboration, bolster biological risk management, expand bioenergy-based products, and engage the international community to enhance biotechnology R&D cooperation in a way that is consistent with United States principles and values.

The governments penchant for controversial biotechnology long predates the Biden administration. In 2001, a New York Times investigation found that American defense agencies under Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton had continued to experiment with biological weapons, despite a 1972 international treaty prohibiting them. In 2011, The Guardian revealed that the CIA under President Barack Obama organized a fake Hepatitis B vaccine drive in Pakistan that sought to locate family members of Osama bin Laden through nonconsensual DNA collection, leading the agency to eventually promise a cessation of falseimmunization campaigns.

CIA Labs, a 2020 initiative overseen by Donald Trumps CIA director, Gina Haspel infamous for running a torture laboratory in Thailand follows a model similar to In-Q-Tels. The program created a research network to incubate top talent and technology for use across U.S. defense agencies, while simultaneously allowing participating CIA officers to personally profit off their research and patents.

In-Q-Tel board members are allowed to sit on the boards of companies in which the firm invests, raising ethics concerns over howthe non-profit selects companies to back with government dollars. A 2016 Wall Street Journal investigation found that almost half of In-Q-Tel board members were connected to the companies where it had invested.

The size of In-Q-Tels stake in Colossal wont be known until the nonprofit releases its financial statements next year, but the investment may provide a boon on reputation alone: In-Q-Tel has claimed that every dollar it invests in a business attracts 15 more from other investors.

Colossals co-founders, Lamm and Church, represent the ventures business and science minds, respectively. Lamm, a self-proclaimed serial technology entrepreneur, founded his first company as a senior in college, then pivoted to mobile apps and artificial intelligence before helping to start Colossal.

Church a Harvard geneticist, genome-based dating app visionary, and former Jeffrey Epstein funding recipient has proposed the revival of extinct species before. Speaking to Der Spiegel in 2013, Church suggested the resurrection of the Neanderthal an idea met with controversy because it would require technology capable of human cloning.

We can clone all kinds of mammals, so its very likely that we could clone a human, Church said. Why shouldnt we be able to do so? When the interviewer reminded him of a ban on human cloning, Church said, And laws can change, by the way.

Even when the methods used for de-extinction are legal, many scientists are skeptical of its promise. In a 2017 paper for Nature Ecology & Evolution, a group of biologists from Canada, Australia, and New Zealand found that [s]pending limited resources on de-extinction could lead to net biodiversity loss.

De-extinction is a fairytale science, Jeremy Austin, a University of Adelaide professor and director of the Australian Center for Ancient DNA,toldthe Sydney Morning Herald over the summer, when Colossal pledged to sink $10 million into the University of Melbourne for its Tasmanian tiger project. Its pretty clear to people like me that thylacine or mammoth de-extinction is more about media attention for the scientists and less about doing serious science.

Critics who say de-extinction of genes to create proxy species is impossible are critics who are simply not fully informed and do not know the science. We have been clear from day one that on the path to de-extinction we will be developing technologies which we hope to be beneficial to both human healthcare as well as conservation, Lamm wrote to The Intercept. We will conitnue [sic] to share these technologies we develop with the world.

It remains to be seen if Colossal, with In-Q-Tels backing, can make good on its promises. And its unclear what, exactly, the intelligence world might gain from the use of CRISPR. But perhaps the CIA shares the companys altruistic, if vague, motives: To advance the economies of biology and healing through genetics. To make humanity more human. And to reawaken the lost wilds of Earth. So we, and our planet, can breathe easier.

Update: September 28, 2022, 1:00 p.m. ETThis story has been updated with a statement from Colossal co-founder Ben Lamm.

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CIA Just Invested In Woolly Mammoth Resurrection Tech - The Intercept

When John Bunker first moved to Palermo 50 years ago, he was struck by the lack of street name signs in town.

None of the roads had (name) signs, because after all, everybody knew what all the roads were, said Bunker, Maines foremost apple historian, who also runs the orchard at Palermos Super Chilly Farm. So I didnt even know what road I lived on.

Compounding the confusion, he recalled, was that segments of the same road sometimes had different names.

Palermos lack of formal street-naming conventions was interesting and a little confusing, but not alien to Bunker. Because before the 20th century, important information about each particular apple variety was often passed along by oral tradition. Unique varieties migrated from region to region along with the people who cherished those particular apples, sometimes getting renamed along the way without any documenting of the change.

Those apples were like folks songs that traveled around and had different lyrics in different states, Bunker said.

Some apple trees planted in Maine since the end of the Civil War and throughout the country are in fact well documented with names and descriptions of their phenotypes, or observable characteristics. But for most of what we now call heirloom apples, descriptions are either nonexistent or rudimentary, Bunker said, for the same reason nobody needed street name signs in Palermo everybody at the time knew what they were.

Today, most people eat just a handful of commercial cultivars. Meanwhile, the huge holes of data in apple horticulture regarding the old varieties have confounded scientists, historians and apple explorers for decades. Now, genetic testing may be able to fill in the blanks. The best news? The data being gathered has the potential to make Maines apple landscape almost unimaginably more diverse and delicious.

Since 2019, Bunker has been working with College of the Atlantic history professor Todd Little-Siebold, Laura Sieger, orchard manager for the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association and MOFGA intern Lydia Pendergast to collect samples from hundreds of Maines unidentified apple trees. They send the samples clear across the country to their partner in the project, Cameron Peace, a horticulture scientist at the University of Washington who runs tests to reveal the DNA.

Its almost like 23andMe, but for apples, Sieger said, referring to the popular human genetic testing web service, 23andMe.com.

Peace logs test results into the massive apple DNA database he and his University of Washington colleagues are compiling, which now contains more than 3,000 unique, named apple varieties from around the world.

Peaces hypothesis so far supported by evidence since his DNA project began a few years ago is that all apple varieties worldwide are related within a handful of generations. My vision is to put everything into one big, happy family tree, Peace said.

AN APPLE FOR EVERY TOWN

Todays average consumer may be familiar with five or 10 apple varieties, tops. Those popular cultivars, like Honeycrisp, Gala, McIntosh and Golden Delicious, are dominant nationwide. Commodity farming of the 20th century drastically culled Americas available apple varieties, focusing almost entirely on 20 or so apples chosen for hardiness, large size and high yields rather than the actual reasons people buy apples for flavor or how they hold up when cooked or baked.

But in the decades before modern farming practices took hold in the United States, the market for apples was much different.

Bunker said between the end of the Civil War and the turn of the 20th century, Almost every county from here to Georgia had its own special apples that were unique to that area. And certainly every town had its own unique mix of apples people would grow.

I think more and more Americans are seeing that the one-size-fits-all approach is a worn-out model, Bunker continued. I like to think apples in Maine should be like cheeses in France, where you go 10 miles and you get a whole new cheese. In Maine there should be a different cider and apple in every town or county.

The push for greater diversity in the market begins with identifying old apple trees and their heirloom fruit. Since Maines team of hardcore apple advocates started working with Peace three years ago, theyve completed about 350 DNA tests on the states apple trees, Little-Siebold said. Test results sometimes showed duplication among the samples, but were highly illuminating nonetheless.

Little-Siebold said, for example, that they collected test samples from what seemed like three different apples, snipped from trees in Washington, Hancock and Kennebec counties.

The first thing that came back is, theyre all the same, Little-Siebold said. The DNA tests showed the apples in question were actually a single variety called Salome, which originated in central Illinois around 1860.

We would never have been able to figure that out, Little-Siebold said, emphasizing the advantage of the genotype approach over traditional phenotype identifications. Salome, as far as John and I have ever seen, is mentioned once in historical records in Maine. And yet we found three of them. It is so rare, we would never have guessed it as we did the phenotypic comparisons. But the great thing about the DNA tests is that you dont have to guess. You know theyre the same, period.

Little-Siebold considers apples and old apple trees to be one of the last living connections to the thriving farm communities that formed the basis of the early Maine economy. The apples tell a story about who we are and where we came from, he said. All of a sudden, we have a brand new tool that can give us answers.

Bunker said the Maine team also collaborates with apple historians around the country, leading them to discover that a certain apple in Sorrento about 15 miles east of Ellsworth was also discovered in Colorado and Washington state, for instance. You can learn about human migration patterns by following the apples, he said.

MORE DIVERSITY, MORE DELICIOUSNESS

Apple trees planted in Maine toward the end of the 19th century are now pushing 150 years old, about their maximum lifespan, which gives the apple testing project a sense of urgency.

There are friends and colleagues of mine all over the state now searching for the last of these old trees, Bunker said. Were on this almost desperate search to find them before they die. Were losing many of them every year now.

Identifying and preserving old apple varieties can also help apple growers guard against against future calamity, since a limited gene pool makes a crop vulnerable to disease and decimation. Were looking at how we can have a safe and sustainable apple industry in the future by increasing the genetic diversity, Bunker said.

And as more more heirloom apples become available, consumers win big, too.

There are some excellent fresh-eating apples that are almost entirely unknown now. We need to reintroduce those to the public, said Bunker. He cited one of his favorites, Garden Royal, which originated in Sudbury Massachusetts, and was grown all over central and southern Maine years ago.

The Garden Royal is small, it grows poorly in the nursery, it doesnt bear every year. And when you eat them they are like ambrosia, Bunker said.

He also noted his two Trailman apple trees on Super Chilly Farm. Theyre like candy. People eat them and tell me, My goodness, this is the best apple Ive ever eaten. But theyre small, and they dont fit that designer mode that we think the apple industry and the customer demand, Bunker said.

Many heirloom apples that have seemingly disappeared were never meant to be eaten fresh, Bunker explained, but the fruit absolutely shined when baked in pies, cooked into sauce or juiced for cider.

These days, people are doing more cooking for themselves, Bunker said. They want a good pie apple. Honeycrisp is a delicious apple, but theyre terrible for pies. McIntosh is no good in a pie, it turns into soup. But there are great pie apples out there. Most of them are these old heirlooms, because they were selected for that purpose. We need to get those back into the commercial orchards of Maine.

CROWD-SOURCING DATA

Orchards like Super Chilly Farm or Cayford Orchards in Skowhegan sell scores of heirloom varieties, but the states apple market has a long way to go to meet Bunkers hyper-localized vision of diversity and abundance. And the apple researchers have plenty more work ahead, too: Little-Siebold said Maine has historically hosted about 1,000 named apple tree varieties, and Bunker estimated that the apple DNA project in the state is about 20 percent complete.

A website launched earlier this year by Peaces horticulture department at Washington State University Myfruittree.org might lighten their load, by taking a crowd-sourcing approach to apple gene mapping. For $120, the sites researchers will send any apple tree owner who contacts them sampling gear and instructions for mailing the clippings back. Six months later, your apple tree mystery is solved, and the findings bolster the entire database.

Peace said between sample tests generated through the website and others from the dedicated teams of apple explorers around the country, We run about 100 tests every couple of months now, and we keep finding more and more missing ancestors or pedigree filler to put everything together. The data may eventually lead to major findings, like discovering the still-unknown father tree of the Golden Delicious apple, or the grandparents of the iconic Red Delicious.

Its a wonderful revolution in identification and preservation of the historic apples of North America, and to a large degree, around the world, Bunker said. Its a win-win for everybody in the state of Maine that this is all happening now.

One of the things John will say is, Sometimes we have an apple and were looking for a name, and sometimes we have a name and were looking for an apple,' Little-Siebold said. Were tracking down old varieties that nobody has seen in a hundred years. I would say thats going to be decades of work. But weve made real progress so far.

Cardamom-AppleBrown Butter Cake

This cake comes from Food Editor Peggy Grodinskys friend Mitchell Davis who, in turn, got it from Edible New Jersey magazine, which credited it to Matthew Rosenzweig, who owns The Bakers Grove bakery in Shrewsbury, New Jersey. The original uses pears. Grodinsky switched to apples, which are traditional for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which starts this evening at sundown; eaten with honey, apples symbolize wishes for a sweet new year. Davis also made a few adjustments, most notably using rye flour, which Grodinsky followed using Maine Grains rye flour. If you keep kosher, do not serve this cake with a meat meal (but you know that).

Makes 1 (8-inch cake), serves 810

FOR THE TOPPING: cup unsalted butter cup brown sugar teaspoon ground cardamom2 teaspoons amaretto3-4 apples, peeled, halved, cored and sliced (keep the halves together)

FOR THE CAKE:3/4 cup all-purpose flour3/4 cup rye flour1 teaspoons baking powder1 teaspoons ground cardamom teaspoon salt cup brown butter, at room temperature cup granulated sugar1 teaspoon almond extract2 large eggs, at room temperature cup whole milk, at room temperature cup sliced almonds, toasted, to garnishConfectioners sugar, for sprinkling

Ahead of time, prepare the brown butter to use in the cake batter: Melt cup of unsalted butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat. Swirl the pan occasionally to make sure the butter is cooking evenly. As the butter melts, it will begin to foam. The color will progress to a toasty brown. Once you smell the nutty aroma and the butter is the color of graham crackers, take off the heat and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Refrigerate until solid but still soft and leave at room temperature when ready to prepare the cake batter.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter or spray the sides of a deep-dish 8-inch cake pan and set aside.

To make the topping, combine the butter, brown sugar, cardamom, and amaretto in a saucepan over low heat until the ingredients are melted together. Remove from heat and pour into the prepared cake pan. Arrange the apples over the brown sugar mixture, cut side down. Set aside.

To make the cake, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cardamom and salt; set aside. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the browned butter and sugar on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the almond extract and eggs, 1 at a time, beating until completely incorporated. Gradually mix in half of the flour mixture. Stir in the milk followed by the rest of the flour mixture and mix until just combined.

Scrape the batter on top of the apples in the pan and smooth it into an even layer. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour.

Let the cake cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. Run a knife around the sides of the cake to help loosen it from the pan. Invert a serving plate or cake stand over the pan. Wearing oven mitts, grasp both the pan and the plate and turn them over together. Carefully lift off pan.

Sprinkle toasted sliced almonds over cake and dust with confectioners sugar. Serve the cake warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

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DNA testing sheds light on the vast, mysterious world of heirloom apples - Press Herald

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After a disastrous last week in several courts, Donald Trump got a rare win today at the Second Circuit, where a divided panel held that he was an employee of the federal government for the purposes of the Westfall Act when he said in 2019 that columnist E. Jean Carroll was too ugly for him to have raped decades earlier in a Bergdorf Goodmans dressing room, as she has alleged.

This reverses an earlier ruling by US District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan that presidents are not employees of the federal government under the Westfall and Federal Tort Claims Acts, and thus Trump could not have been acting within the scope of his employment when he said, Ill say it with great respect: Number one, shes not my type. Number two, it never happened.

With great respect.

Carroll sued for defamation in New York state court, and then spent months chasing Trump around for months while he ducked her process server in DC and New York. On the eve of being forced to comply with discovery, Attorney General Bill Barr swept in to substitute the United States as defendant under the Westfall Act and the FTCA, which would conveniently make the case disappear, since the federal government has not waived sovereign immunity for the tort of defamation.

This automatically removed the case to federal court while the parties fought about Trumps employment status. In 2021 when that status changed, there was some speculation that Attorney General Merrick Garland might reverse positions. But when Judge Kaplan ruled that Trump, as the unitary executive, had never been a government employee, and that, even if he had been his comments about Carroll were outside the scope of his employment, the Justice Department appealed on both counts. DOJ gonna DOJ, right?

And his morning the Second Circuit handed Trump and his frenemy Merrick Garland at least a partial win.

It follows that the President of the United States fits comfortably within the statutory descriptions plain language, wrote Judges Calabresi and Nardini, appointed by Clinton and Trump, respectively. For, as Trump points out in his brief, the President is a government employee in the most basic sense of the term: He renders service to his employer, the United States government, in exchange for a salary and other job-related benefits.

The majority then punted on the second point, certifying to the DC Court of Appeals the issue of whether Trump was acting within the scope of his employment for the purposes of DC law when he denied assaulting Carroll and implied that she was lying about him for money as part of a plot with evil Democrats. In this, the court reversed Judge Kaplan again, since the trial judge found that local law would not afford Trump employee protections for the disputed comments.

In dissent, Judge Denny Chin, an Obama appointee, disagreed with both parts of the majority holding.

[T]o the extent the FTCA is silent as to whether the President is covered, I would not interpret that silence to cover the President, he wrote, adding later that Carrolls allegations plausibly paint a picture of a man pursuing a personal vendetta against an accuser, not the United States chief 20 constitutional officer engaging in supervisory and policy responsibilities of utmost discretion and sensitivity.'

He further pointed out that, by the majoritys logic, it would be literally impossible for a sitting president to defame anyone, since any address to a third party satisfying the torts publication requirement would amount to conduct that is of the kind he is expected to perform like speaking to a reporter or attending a government meeting, placing him within the scope of his employment.

Presumably, the certification to the DC Court of Appeals will delay resolution of the appeal further, even as proceedings in the district court continue, and as Carroll prepares to file a second lawsuit against Trump under New Yorks Adult Survivors Act passed earlier this year. But if the former president prevails on the issue before the DC Court of Appeals, while he may escape the defamation claim that he has been fighting for years, he probably wont be able to avoid Carrolls new claim based on the underlying sexual assault. [Edited from an earlier version for clarity.]

Carroll v. Trump [Second Circuit Holding]

Elizabeth Dye lives in Baltimore where she writes about law and politics.

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Second Circuit Saves Trump's Bacon And His DNA! In E. Jean Carroll Defamation Case - Above the Law

In a report currently being published by Verified Market Research titled GlobalDNA And RNA Banking Services Market Size, Manufacturers, Supply Chains, Sales Channels and Customers, 2022-2029, analysts presented a detailed overview of the DNA And RNA Banking Services market. The report is a comprehensive study of DNA And RNA Banking Services global markets, taking into account growth factors, recent trends, events, opportunities and the competitive environment. Market analysts and researchers conducted an extensive analysis of the Global DNA And RNA Banking Services Market, using research methodologies such as the analysis of the five strengths of PESTLE and Porter. They provided accurate and reliable market data and useful recommendations to help participants better understand the overall scenario of the current and future market. The report includes an in-depth study of potential segments, including the type of product, Application and end user, as well as their contribution to the overall market size.

Highlight

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This report aims to provide a comprehensive view of the Global DNA And RNA Banking Services Market, with quantitative and qualitative analysis to help readers develop business/growth strategies, assess the competitive market situation, analyze their current market position and make informed business decisions regarding DNA And RNA Banking Services.

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The report will help DNA And RNA Banking Services companies, newcomers and companies associated with the industry chain in this market to provide revenue information for the entire market and sub-segments of various segments by company, product type, application and region.

Key companies and market share

In this section, readers will get acquainted with the main participants of the competition. This report examined key growth strategies such as innovation trends and developments, product range expansion, mergers and acquisitions, collaboration, innovation in new products and geographical expansion undertaken by these participants to maintain their presence. In addition to business strategies, the study includes current events and key financial indicators. Readers will also have access to data on global corporate turnover for the period 2017-2022. This comprehensive report will certainly help clients stay up to date and make effective decisions in their companies.

Some of the main participants reviewed in the research report include:

Market segmentation of DNA And RNA Banking Services market:

DNA And RNA Banking Services market is divided by type and application. For the period 2021-2028, cross-segment growth provides accurate calculations and forecasts of sales by Type and Application in terms of volume and value. This analysis can help you grow your business by targeting qualified niche markets.

DNA & RNA Banking Services Market, By Service

Transportation Service Processing Service Storage Service Quality Control Service Data Storage

DNA & RNA Banking Services Market, By Specimen Type

Blood Saliva Others

DNA & RNA Banking Services Market, By Applications

Therapeutics Drug Discovery & Clinical Research Clinical Diagnostics

DNA & RNA Banking Services Market, By End User

Hospitals & Diagnostic Centers Academic Research Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Companies

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DNA And RNA Banking Services Market Report Scope

Regional Perspectives

This section of the report provides key information about the various regions and the main players operating in each region. Economic, social, environmental, technological and political factors were taken into account when assessing the growth of the region/country in question. Readers will also learn about the income of each region and country for the period 2017-2028.

The market has been segmented into several major geographic regions, including North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, the Middle East and Africa. A detailed analysis of the main countries, such as the USA, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, France, China, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia and India, will be considered in the regional segment. For market estimates, data will be provided for 2021 in connection with the base year, with estimates for 2022 and revenue forecast for 2028.

Middle East and Africa (GCC countries and Egypt)North America (USA, Mexico and Canada)South America (Brazil, etc.)Europe (Turkey, Germany, Russia, Great Britain, Italy, France, etc.)Asia-Pacific region (Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Japan, Philippines, Korea, Thailand, India, Indonesia and Australia)

Table of Contents

Report Overview:It includes major players of the global DNA And RNA Banking Services Market covered in the research study, research scope, and Market segments by type, market segments by application, years considered for the research study, and objectives of the report.

Global Growth Trends:This section focuses on industry trends where market drivers and top market trends are shed light upon. It also provides growth rates of key producers operating in the global DNA And RNA Banking Services Market. Furthermore, it offers production and capacity analysis where marketing pricing trends, capacity, production, and production value of the global DNA And RNA Banking Services Market are discussed.

Market Share by Manufacturers:Here, the report provides details about revenue by manufacturers, production and capacity by manufacturers, price by manufacturers, expansion plans, mergers and acquisitions, and products, market entry dates, distribution, and market areas of key manufacturers.

Market Size by Type:This section concentrates on product type segments where production value market share, price, and production market share by product type are discussed.

Market Size by Application:Besides an overview of the global DNA And RNA Banking Services Market by application, it gives a study on the consumption in the global DNA And RNA Banking Services Market by application.

Production by Region:Here, the production value growth rate, production growth rate, import and export, and key players of each regional market are provided.

Consumption by Region:This section provides information on the consumption in each regional market studied in the report. The consumption is discussed on the basis of country, application, and product type.

Company Profiles:Almost all leading players of the global DNA And RNA Banking Services Market are profiled in this section. The analysts have provided information about their recent developments in the global DNA And RNA Banking Services Market, products, revenue, production, business, and company.

Market Forecast by Production:The production and production value forecasts included in this section are for the global DNA And RNA Banking Services Market as well as for key regional markets.

Market Forecast by Consumption:The consumption and consumption value forecasts included in this section are for the global DNA And RNA Banking Services Market as well as for key regional markets.

Value Chain and Sales Analysis:It deeply analyzes customers, distributors, sales channels, and value chain of the global DNA And RNA Banking Services Market.

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DNA And RNA Banking Services Market Size And Forecast To 2022 |EasyDNA, DNA Genotek Inc., 23andMe Goodsell, ProteoGenex, US Biolab Corporation and...

In week 4 the Oregon Ducks showed a side of them that many haven't seen for some time. They had their backs against the wall the entire game against Washington State, but they battled until the final whistle and came out with a hard-fought victory.

On Monday head coach Dan Lanning said he learns something about his team with every game they play.

Surely this win had to have a different feel to it than ones we've seen in recent seasons.

"That game to me was our DNA trait game," he said of the win over the Cougars.

All throughout the week leading up to the game, much had been made of the raucous atmosphere that comes with Martin Stadium. The Ducks didn't let that impact the outcome.

"We had to go out there and play a team in a rough situation where we had to really show some resiliency," Lanning continued. "There was moments of sacrifice and growth, and toughness and all those things really showed up. The things that we talk about--connection. All those things really showed up in that game for us."

READ MORE: Dan Lanning provides latest Oregon injury updates ahead of Stanford

That resiliency manifested itself in part with the Oregon offense, which willed the teamback into the game by putting up 21 points in the final quarter to take a 37-34 lead with just under two minutes left to play. That was before Mase Funa slammed the door shut on the Cougs with a game-winning pick-six.

Lanning admits that it looked bleak towards the end but didn't sense a shred of doubt from his guys.

"I'm sure there was a lot of people who didn't really believe there at the end of the game," he said. "But I don't think there was ever an ounce of doubt on our sideline which I certainly appreciated cause we needed all hands on deck."

One specific play that went under the radar was Bucky Irving's 21-yard reception on fourth-and-two, which Nix threaded into double coverage nearly 20 yards past the sticks.

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At that point, Oregon was down 34-22 with just 5:48 left on the clock and all hope looked lost, but that catch set up Cam McCormick's touchdown.

In previous years we've seen the Ducks battle it out with teams down to the wire, but we've also seen them play down to the level of their opponents. Last season Oregon was looking at a potential playoff run until they met the Utah Utes two times in three weeks, losing by a combined score of 76-17.

To find the most recent comeback you'd have to look back to the 2020 Rose Bowl, where the Ducks faced the Wisconsin Badgers in an exciting matchup that came down to the wire. Justin Herbertdidn't throw for any touchdowns but instead ran for three, scoring the eventual game winner with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter after the defense shut down Jonathan Taylor and the Badger offense.

READ MORE: DJ Johnson to miss first half vs. Stanford

Through four games we can say this about Oregon. This is a new Ducks team with a new demeanor that can win games in different ways. Lanning and his staff have prepared this team to a point where even if they're down big, they can dig deep to gut out tough games.

With Stanford coming to Autzen stadium for a late-night game the Ducks can't take anything for granted and the players and staff know what this game means for their season.

Every game is must win, and it's no different with an athletic and talented Stanford team this week.

READ MORE: Five Stanford players to watch vs. Oregon

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Oregon Showed What Team It's Capable of Being in WSU Win - Sports Illustrated

The biotech industry garnered huge revenues during the COVID-19 pandemic as companies fostered advancements in drug development and introduced vaccines to help the world fight the deadly virus. Moreover, breakthrough developments to prevent the incidence of chronic diseases, rising investments in innovative technologies, and increased aging populations needs are creating lucrative growth opportunities for this sector.

However, this industry has witnessed a slowdown this year due to the broader market correction and the improving pandemic crisis. Some believe it is facing its worst time since its inception. Amidst the rumblings of a global recession, access to capital has become seemingly difficult for the sector. According to Barbara Ryan, founder of Barbara Ryan Advisors, a life sciences capital markets strategic advisory firm, the industry has gone from hero to zero.

Given this scenario, we think it might be best to avoid biotech stocks Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. (DNA), GeoVax Labs, Inc. (GOVX), and Aditxt, Inc. (ADTX), considering their bleak fundamentals.

Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. (DNA)

DNA develops a platform for cell programming to enable the biological production of products such as novel therapeutics, food ingredients, and chemicals derived from petroleum. The company serves various markets, including specialty chemicals, agriculture, food, consumer products, and pharmaceuticals.

DNAs total operating expenses increased 664.2% year-over-year to $791.53 million in the second quarter ended June 30, 2022. The companys loss from operations widened 979.2% year-over-year to $646.91 million, while its net loss came in at $668.83 million. Also, the loss per share increased 925% year-over-year to $0.41.

The consensus EPS estimate of negative $0.22 for the ongoing fiscal quarter represents a 175% year-over-year decline. The consensus revenue estimate of $57.65 million indicates a decrease of 25.7% year-over-year in the same period.

DNAs forward Price/Sales multiple of 11.28 is 1,035.4% higher than the industry average of 0.99. In terms of its forward EV/Sales, the stock is trading at 8.27x, 548.7% higher than the industry average of 1.27x.

DNAs stock has declined 77.2% in price over the past year to close the last trading session at $2.80.

DNA has an overall F rating, equating to a Strong Sell in our POWR Ratings system. The POWR Ratings are calculated by considering 118 distinct factors, with each factor weighted to an optimal degree.

DNA also has an F grade for Stability and a D for Growth, Value, Quality, and Sentiment. In the F-rated 395-stock Biotech industry, DNA is ranked last. Click here to access DNAs ratings for Momentum.

GeoVax Labs, Inc. (GOVX)

GOVX, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, develops vaccines and immunotherapies against various infectious diseases like HIV, Zika, malaria, hemorrhagic fever viruses, and cancer.

For the second quarter ended June 30, 2022, GOVX didnt report any revenue, while its operating expenses increased 43.2% from the prior-year period to $2.24 million. The companys net loss increased 70.6% year-over-year to $2.24 million, while its loss per share came in at $0.18 during the quarter.

GOVX is expected to report a loss per share of $0.97 and $0.81 in the ongoing and next fiscal year.

GOVXs trailing-12-months Price/Sales multiple of 33.85 is 709.8% higher than the industry average of 4.18.

The stock has plummeted 73.7% over the past year and 68.2% year-to-date to close the last trading session at $1.15.

GOVXs bleak outlook is reflected in its POWR Ratings. The stock has an overall rating of D, which translates to a Sell in our proprietary rating system. It has an F grade for Momentum and Stability. In the Biotech industry, GOVX is ranked #244.

To see additional POWR Ratings for GOVX for Growth, Value, Sentiment, and Quality, click here.

Aditxt, Inc. (ADTX)

ADTX, a biotech company, develops technologies that focus on improving the immune systems health through immune mapping and reprogramming. The company develops AditxtScore, which allows individuals to understand, manage, and monitor their immune profiles; and Apoptotic DNA Immunotherapy, a nucleic acid-based technology that mimics the way the body naturally induces tolerance to its tissues.

For the fiscal quarter ended June 30, ADTXs total operating expenses increased marginally year-over-year to $5.81 million. Net loss from operations also increased marginally from the prior-year quarter to $5.77 million. The companys net loss and net loss per share came in at $5.85 million and $0.13, respectively.

In terms of its trailing-12-months EV/Sales, ADTX is currently trading at 18.73x, 385% higher than the industry average of 3.86x. Its trailing-12-months Price/Book multiple of 2.16 is 12.5% higher than the industry average of 1.92.

The stock has slumped 97% over the past year and 68.1% over the past month to close the last trading session at $2.66.

Its no surprise that ADTX has an overall D rating, which translates to Sell in our POWR Ratings system. The stock has an F grade for Momentum, Stability, and Quality. It is ranked #336 in the Biotech industry.

Beyond what is stated above, we have also rated ADTX for Growth, Value, and Sentiment. Click here to check ADTXs POWR Ratings.

DNA shares were trading at $2.75 per share on Monday afternoon, down $0.05 (-1.79%). Year-to-date, DNA has declined -66.91%, versus a -22.26% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.

Komal's passion for the stock market and financial analysis led her to pursue investment research as a career. Her fundamental approach to analyzing stocks helps investors identify the best investment opportunities. More...

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DNA: 3 Biotech Stocks to Sell Before the End of This Year - StockNews.com

Warning: This story has disturbing content related to threats of sexual violence.

The threatening letters began in March 2007.

They came in the mail to Eva LaRue's Southern California house -- sometimes handwritten, sometimes typed -- from an unknown sender who called himself "Freddie Krueger" and vowed to rape and kill her and her young daughter.

The letters -- more than three dozen of them -- kept on coming for more than 12 years, a relentless psychological assault that made the "CSI: Miami" actress and her family afraid to step outside their home.

Early on, some letters mentioned LaRue's daughter, then 5. But in 2015, letters began arriving addressed to the child. The stalker also began calling LaRue's daughter's school, saying that he was her father and was outside to pick her up.

But with the help of genetic genealogy, a science that was used for the first time in California to capture the Golden State Killer, the FBI in 2019 was able to take DNA from the envelopes and run it through a database, yielding a list of the suspect's relatives. This eventually led them to a small town in Ohio, where they arrested a 58-year-old man after pulling his DNA from a discarded Arby's straw.

James David Rogers was sentenced Thursdayto 40 months in federal prison. The Heath, Ohio, man pleaded guilty in April to two counts of mailing threatening communications, one count of threats by interstate communications, and two counts of stalking.

"I forgive you, but I cannot forget," LaRue told him at the sentencing in a Los Angeles County courtroom. "The fear is with me forever."

12 years of terror

LaRue is a former beauty queen and longtime actress who appeared for many years as a doctor on the soap opera "All My Children." She's probably best known for her seven seasons on the crime drama "CSI: Miami," ending in 2012.

Her character was a DNA analyst for the Miami-Dade Police Department, which became a bitter irony when authorities found DNA on envelopes containing the threatening letters but couldn't pinpoint a suspect.

LaRue was midway through her second full season on "CSI: Miami" when the first letter showed up at her house. Others soon followed.

"I am going to [explicative] stalk you until the day you die," said one, according to a 2019 federal indictment of Rogers.

"There will be no place on this earth that I ... (can't) find you. I am going to rape you," said another letter, in which the stalker also threatened to rape and impregnate LaRue's daughter.

The letters were signed "Freddie Krueger," the fictional killer from the horror film series "A Nightmare on Elm Street." Many were postmarked from Youngstown, Ohio.

LaRue told CNN she was so terrified that she eventually sold her house and moved with her family to Italy, where they lived for several months with a friend. She then returned to California and bought a new house under an LLC -- a business entity that provides limited liability protection -- to shield her identity, but the letters began showing up at that address as well, she said.

LaRue and her daughter "drove circuitous routes home, slept with weapons nearby and had discussions about how to seek help quickly if [Rogers] found them and tried to harm them," federal prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum.

"They tried to anonymize their addresses as much as possible by avoiding receiving mail and packages at their actual address," prosecutors said. "To no avail. Each time they moved, [the] letters -- and the victims' terror -- would always follow."

In 2015, the family started receiving letters addressed to LaRue's daughter. At the time, she was about 13.

"I am the man who has been stalking for (the) last 7 years. Now I have set my eye on you too," the first one read, according to the indictment. Another one read, "You look so beautiful in your pictures on Google. Are you ready to be the mother of my child."

How the FBI caught the stalker

The FBI collected DNA from many of the envelopes but didn't know whose it was until 2019, when they turned to the emerging field of genetic genealogy -- the same method that had fingered the Golden State Killer the previous year.

Thanks in part to companies such as 23andMe, Ancestry and GEDmatch, genetic genealogy has become a valuable tool for law enforcement officers trying to solve old crimes. Authorities upload a DNA data file to a public database to identify any relatives of the person who might have submitted their DNA for testing. They then build out family trees and narrow down possible suspects via old-fashioned detective work until a lead suspect emerges.

Even so, investigators still must obtain a sample of the suspect's DNA and make a match before they can make an arrest.

Once the evidence pointed to Rogers, FBI agents began surveilling him. FBI agents traveled to Ohio in the fall of 2019, former FBI special agent Stephen Busch and former FBI attorney Steve Kramer told CNN.

When Rogers left his job as a nurse's assistant at an assisted living facility and went to an Arby's on his way home, the FBI followed and watched him eat his meal and discard the bag in a Dumpster, Busch and Kramer said.

Agents raided the Dumpster and extracted Rogers' DNA from a soda straw in the bag, Busch and Kramer said. It matched the DNA from the envelopes sent to LaRue and her daughter, they said.

The FBI arrested Rogers at his home early one morning in November 2019.

Rogers' conviction marks the first time genetic genealogy has solved a case on the federal level, Busch and Kramer told CNN.

Their fear still lingers

At his sentencing Thursday, Rogers told the judge via a video link from Ohio that he grew up in an abusive home and was bullied in school. He said he is receiving mental health treatment.

"I sincerely apologize for what I did for the last 12 years, putting you and your family through hellish behavior," he said to LaRue. "I accept full responsibility. I hope you can put this behind you and at some point never think about me again."

LaRue then addressed Rogers in her victim impact statement, thanking him for his apology but telling the judge, "I am so worried what will happen when he gets out out."

She grew emotional as she told the court how the repeated threats took a toll on her and her family and deprived them of basic freedoms.

"We have had years of this," she said. "This is beyond deviant behavior."

LaRue's daughter Kaya Callahan, now 20, also became emotional as she told the court how she was traumatized by Rogers' threats.

After Rogers contacted her school, she said there was such "paranoia" about her safety that she was escorted every day to and from the school building to the parking lot.

"I was afraid for my life," she said. Callahan said her fear still lingers.

"I want to feel OK again," she said. "Safe."

Read more:
This 'CSI: Miami' actress was threatened by a stalker for 12 years. The FBI caught him after he left his DNA on a fast-food straw - WRAL News

DNA Definition

Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, is a biological macromolecule that carries hereditary information in many organisms. DNA is necessary for the production of proteins, the regulation, metabolism, and reproduction of the cell. Large compressed DNA molecules with associated proteins, called chromatin, are mostly present inside the nucleus. Some cytoplasmic organelles like the mitochondria also contain DNA molecules.

DNA is usually a double-stranded polymer of nucleotides, although single-stranded DNA is also known. Nucleotides in DNA are molecules made of deoxyribose sugar, a phosphate and a nitrogenous base. The nitrogenous bases in DNA are of four types adenine, guanine, thymine and cytosine. The phosphate and the deoxyribose sugars form a backbone-like structure, with the nitrogenous bases extending out like rungs of a ladder. Each sugar molecule is linked through its third and fifth carbon atoms to one phosphate molecule each.

DNA was isolated and discovered chemically before its functions became clear. DNA and its related molecule, ribonucleic acid (RNA), were initially identified simply as acidic molecules that were present in the nucleus. When Mendels experiments on genetics were rediscovered, it became clear that heredity was probably transmitted through discrete particles, and that there was a biochemical basis for inheritance. A series of experiments demonstrated that among the four types of macromolecules within the cell (carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids), the only chemicals that were consistently transmitted from one generation to the next were nucleic acids.

As it became clear that DNA was the material that was transferred from one generation to the next, its functions began to be investigated.

Every DNA molecule is distinguished by its sequence of nucleotides. That is, the order in which nitrogenous bases appear within the macromolecule identify a DNA molecule. For instance, when the human genome was sequenced, the nucleotides constituting each of the 23 pairs of chromosomes were laid out, like a string of words on a page. There are individual differences in these nucleotide sequences, but overall, for every organism, large stretches are conserved. The sugar phosphate backbone, on the other hand, is common to all DNA molecules, across species, whether in bacteria, plants, invertebrates or humans.

When a double-stranded DNA molecule needs to be replicated, the first thing that happens is that the two strands separate along a short stretch, creating a bubble-like structure. In this transient single-stranded region, a number of enzymes and other proteins, including DNA polymerase work to create the complementary strand, with the correct nucleotide being chosen through hydrogen bond formation. These enzymes continue along each strand creating a new polynucleotide molecule until the entire DNA is replicated.

Life begins from a single cell. For humans, this is the zygote formed by the fertilization of an egg by a sperm. After this, the entire dazzling array of cells and tissue types are produced by cell division. Even the maintenance of normal functions in an adult requires constant mitosis. Each time a cell divides, nuclear genetic material is duplicated. This implies that nearly 3 billion nucleotides are accurately read and copied. High-fidelity DNA polymerases and a host of error repair mechanisms ensure that there is only one incorrectly incorporated nucleotide for every 10 billion base pairs.

The second important function of genetic material is to direct the physiological activities of the cell. Most catalytic and functional roles in the body are carried out by peptides, proteins and RNA. The structure and function of these molecules is determined by nucleotide sequences in DNA.

When a protein or RNA molecule needs to be produced, the first step is transcription. Like DNA replication, this begins with the transient formation of a single-stranded region. The single-stranded region then acts as the template for the polymerization of a complementary polynucleotide RNA molecule. Only one of the two strands of DNA is involved in transcription. This is called the template strand and the other strand is called the coding strand. Since transcription is also dependent on complementary base pairing, the RNA sequence is nearly the same as the coding strand.

In the image, the coding strands and the template strands are depicted in orange and purple respectively. RNA is transcribed in the 5 to 3 direction.

One of the main functions of any hereditary material is to be replicated and inherited. In order to create a new generation, genetic information needs to be accurately duplicated and then transmitted. The structure of DNA ensures that the information coded within every polynucleotide strand is replicated with astonishing accuracy.

Even though it is important for DNA to be duplicated with a very high degree of accuracy, the overall process of evolution requires the presence of genetic variability within every species. One of the ways in which this happens is through mutations in DNA molecules.

Changes to the nucleotide sequence in genetic material allows for the formation of new allele. Alleles are different, mostly functional, varieties of every gene. For instance, people who have B blood group have a certain gene resulting in a particular surface protein on red blood cells. This protein is distinct from the surface antigens in those who have blood group A. Similarly, people with sickle cell anemia have a different hemoglobin allele compared to those who do not suffer from the illness.

The presence of this variability allows at least some populations to survive when there is a sudden and drastic change to the environment. For instance, individuals carrying a mutated allele for hemoglobin are at risk for sickle cell anemia. However, they also have a higher chance of survival in regions where malaria is endemic.

These mutations and the presence of variability allow populations to evolve and adapt to changing circumstances.

On another level, DNAs role as genetic material and an understanding of its chemistry allows us to manipulate it and use it to enhance quality of life. For example, genetically modified crops that are pest or drought resistant have been generated from wild type varieties through genetic engineering. A lot of molecular biology is dependent on the isolation and manipulation of DNA, for the study of living processes.

When its definitive role in heredity was established, understanding DNAs structure became important. Previous work on protein crystals guided the interpretation of crystallization and X-Ray differaction of DNA. The correct interpretation of diffraction data started a new era in understanding and manipulating genetic material. While initially, scientists like Linus Pauling suggested that DNA was perhaps made of three strands, Rosalind Franklins data supported the presence of a double helix.

The structure of DNA therefore, was elucidated in a step-wise manner through a series of experiments, starting from the chemical isolation of deoxyribonucleic acid by Frederich Miescher to the X-ray crystallography of this macromolecule by Rosalind Franklin.

The image is a simplified representation of a short DNA molecule, with deoxyribose sugar molecules in orange, linked to phosphate molecules through a special type of covalent linkage called the phosphodiester bond. Each nitrogenous base is represented by a different color thymine in purple, adenine in green, cytosine in red and guanine in blue. The bases from each strand form hydrogen bonds with one another, stabilizing the double-stranded structure.

The structure of the sugar phosphate backbone in a DNA molecule results in a chemical polarity. Each deoxyribose sugar has five carbon atoms. Of these, the third and the fifth carbon atoms can form covalent bonds with phosphate moieties through phosphodiester bonds. A phosphodiester linkage essentially has a phosphate molecule forming two covalent bonds and a series of these bonds creates the two spines of a double-stranded DNA molecule.

Alternating sugar and phosphate residues results in one end of every DNA strand having a free phosphate group attached to the fifth carbon of a deoxyribose sugar. This is called the 5 end. The other end has a reactive hydroxyl group attached to the third carbon atom of the sugar molecule and makes the 3 end.

The two strands of every DNA molecule have opposing chemical polarities. That is, at the end of every double-stranded DNA molecule, one strand will have a reactive 3 hydroxyl group and the other strand will have the reactive phosphate group attached to the fifth carbon of deoxyribose. This is why a DNA molecule is said to be made of antiparallel strands.

A DNA molecule can look like a ladder, with a sugar phosphate backbone and nucleotide rungs. However, a DNA molecule forms a three-dimensional helical structure, with the bases tucked inside the double helix. Hydrogen bonding between nucleotides allows the intermolecular distance between two strands to remain fairly constant, with ten base pairs in every turn of the double helix.

Nucleotide bases on one strand interact with those on the other strand through two or three hydrogen bonds. This pattern is predictable (though exceptions exist), with every thymine base pairing with an adenine base, and the guanine and cytosine nucleotides forming hydrogen bonds with each other. Due to this, when the sequence of a single strand is known, the nucleotides present in the complementary strand of DNA are automatically revealed. For instance, if one strand of a DNA molecule has the sequence 5 CAGCAGCAG 3, the bases on the other antiparallel strand that pair with this stretch will be 5 CTGCTGCTG 3. This property of DNA double strands is called complementarity.

Initially, there was debate about the manner in which DNA molecules are duplicated. There were three major hypotheses about the mechanism of DNA replication. The two complementary strands of DNA could unwind at short stretches and provide the template for the formation of a new DNA molecule, formed completely from free nucleotides. This method was named the conservative hypothesis.

Alternatively, each template strand could catalyze the formation of its complementary strand through nucleotide polymerization. In this semi-conservative mode of replication, all duplicated DNA molecules would carry one strand from the parent and one newly synthesized strand. In effect, all duplicated DNA molecules would be hybrids. The third hypothesis stated that every large DNA molecule was probably broken into small segments before it was replicated. This was called the dispersive hypothesis and would result in mosaic molecules.

A series of elegant experiments by Matthew Meselson, and Franklin Stahl, with help from Mason MacDonald and Amandeep Sehmbi, supported the idea that DNA replication was, in fact, semi-conservative. At the end of every duplication event, all DNA molecules carry one parental strand and one strand newly created from nucleotide polymerization.

As microscopes started to become more sophisticated and provide greater magnification, the role of the nucleus in cell division became fairly clear. On the other hand, there was the common understanding of heredity as the mixing of maternal and paternal characteristics, since the fusion of two nuclei during fertilization had been observed.

However, the discovery of DNA as the genetic material probably began with the work of Gregor Mendel. When his experiments were rediscovered, an important implication came to light. His results could only be explained through the inheritance of discrete particles, rather than through the diffuse mixing of traits. While Mendel called them factors, with the advent of chemistry into biological sciences, a hunt for the molecular basis of heredity began.

DNA was first chemically isolated and purified by Johann Friedrich Miescher who was studying immunology. Specifically, he was trying to understand the biochemistry of white blood cells. After isolating the nuclei from the cytoplasm, he discovered that when acid was added to these extracts, stringy white clumps that looked like a tufts of wool, separated from the solution. Unlike proteins, these precipitates went back into solution upon the addition of an alkali. This led Miescher to conclude that the macromolecule was acidic in nature. When further experiments showed that the molecule was neither a lipid nor a protein, he realized that he had isolated a new class of molecules. Since it was derived from the nucleus, he named this substance nuclein.

The work of Albrecht Kossel shed more light on the chemical nature of this substance when he showed that nuclein (or nucleic acid as it was beginning to be called) was made of carbohydrates, phosphates, and nitrogenous bases. Kossel also made the important discovery connecting the biochemical study of nucleic acids with the microscopic analysis of dividing cells. He linked this acidic substance with chromosomes that could be observed visually and confirmed that this class of molecules was nearly completely present only in the nucleus. The other important discovery of Kossels was to link nucleic acids with an increase in protoplasm, and cell division, thereby strengthening its connection with heredity and reproduction.

By the turn of the twentieth century, molecular biology experienced a number of seminal discoveries that brought about an enhanced understanding of the chemical basis of life and cell division. In 1944, experiments by three scientists, (Avery, McCarty and McLeod) provided strong evidence that nucleic acids, specifically DNA, was probably the genetic material. A few years later, Chargaffs experiments showed that the number of purine bases in every DNA molecule equaled the number of pyrimidine bases. In 1952, an elegant experiment by Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase confirmed DNA as the genetic material.

By this time, advances in X-Ray crystallography had allowed the crystallization of DNA and study of its diffraction patterns. Finally, these molecules could be visualized with greater granularity. The data generated by Rosalind Franklin allowed James Watson and Francis Crick to then propose the double-stranded helical model for DNA, with a sugar-phosphate backbone. They incorporated Chargaffs rules for purine and pyrimidine quantities by showing that every purine base formed specific hydrogen bond linkages with another pyrimidine base. They understood even as they proposed this structure that they had provided a mechanism for DNA duplication.

In order to visualize this molecule, they built a three-dimensional model of a double helical DNA, using aluminum templates. The image above shows the template of the base Thymine, with accurate bond angles and lengths.

The final model built by Watson and Crick (as seen above) is now on display at the National Science Museum in London.

1. Which of these statements about DNA is NOT true?A. In eukaryotes, DNA is present exclusively in the nucleusB. DNA is the genetic material for some virusesC. DNA replication is semi-conservativeD. None of the above

Answer to Question #1

A is correct. Even in eukaryotes, DNA does exist outside the nucleus. Organelles such as mitochondria and chloroplasts carry some DNA molecules.

2. Which of these scientists designed an experiment to show that DNA replication was semi-conservative?A. MeselsonB. James WatsonC. Linus PaulingD. All of the above

Answer to Question #2

A is correct. Among these three scientists, only Meselson was involved in the design of the experiment that showed how DNA was replicated. Linus Pauling was involved in developing X-Ray crystallography as a method for understanding the structure of biological macromolecules. James Watson used the X-Ray diffraction data generated by Rosalind Franklin to propose the double helical model for the three-dimensional structure of DNA.

3. Why was the rediscovery of Mendels experiments important for the development of molecular biology?A. Mendels experiments suggested that DNA was the hereditary materialB. Mendels laws of inheritance suggested that there were discrete biochemical particles involved in heredityC. Mendels experiments with pea plants gave molecular biologists a useful model organismD. All of the above

Answer to Question #3

B is correct. Until Mendel experimented with pea plants, it was never clear how heredity was achieved. Though the gross mechanisms involved were always known, the details were never clear. Common knowledge seemed to suggest that traits reached an average between parents. For instance, with one tall parent and a short parent, the offspring was usually of intermediate height. Similarly for skin coloring and so on. However, once Mendel had done his experiments using true breeding specimens, it was fairly clear that discrete particles were being inherited. This, along with advancements in chemistry, allowed the development of molecular biology and biochemistry as fields of study. There was nothing in Mendels experiments to suggest that DNA was the genetic material. In addition, Mendels pea plants are not really preferred as model organisms because of the vast areas needs to cultivate the specimens and their long generation time.

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DNA - Definition, Function, Structure and Discovery - Biology Dictionary