Medically speaking, scientists have worked to achieve a major goal for years. Their objective is to predict whether or not a given trait will develop later in life by simply studying the genome sequence, meaning the sequence of the bases that make up the DNA strand. Recently, a group of researchers from the Netherlands have been testing this goal using eye color. They found that the color of a person’s eye can be determined with 90% accuracy, so long as the have blue or brown eyes, by analyzing the DNA from six differently places within the genome. Human eye color is determined by the pigmentation on the iris and is known as a “complex trait,” meaning more than one gene controls what color the eyes will be. People with different eye color will have different DNA sequences, known as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP’s). The SNPs of over 6000 people were analyzed and it was determined that given a sequence at thirty-seven SNPs in eight eye color genes for each, the actual eye color can be determined with 90% certainty with the best six SNPs from six genes. This study is extremely important because it proves that complex traits can, in fact, be predicted by studying the genome sequence as long as the genes do exist and are known. One benefit to knowing this is that disease risks can be assessed early on by analyzing a DNA sample. In relation to forensic science, if there is a case where the only trace of a suspect is a DNA sample, but the DNA profile does not match that of a known suspect, it can help identify a previously unknown suspect.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090309121933.htm
6 comments:
I thought this review was very interesting. I liked that it was relevant to the topic of DNA that we have been studying in class. I also liked that the terms were defined, such as complex traits. I did not realize why this technique would be important, but it was clearly explained at the end of the summary. I learned that predicting traits within the DNA could help analyze disease risks.
this article was very interesting. the author did a good job explaining what the goal of this study was, how the scientists were able to determine gene color, and how its results can be used in crime solving by forensic scientists. i learned that a person's eye color can be determined with 90% accuracy (for blue and brown eyes) by studying 6 nucleotides. the author was very organized,clear, and informative, so there is nothing that they need to work on.
This piece on the effectiveness of DNA was very intruiging. We have been studying DNA recently so it was a great choice for a current event. This article was very in depth in explaining the methods used by the scientists as well as letting us know what all the terms meant. Its amazing that the color of someones eye can be determined with such a high rate of accuracy. If there was some explanation concerning the future of this technique and getting 100% accuracy, this article would be perfect.
I thought that this article topic was extremely interesting. I liked how the author gave a lot of details, explained how the scientists determine the eye color, and said how studying the traits was beneficial. I learned how that analyzing the genome and DNA diseases can be assessed earlier as well as help identify unknown suspects. The author could've done a little more analysis but besides that they did a great job of clearly summarizing the article.
This article was summed up very well. I thought the author did a great job and explaining everything. Also, the post had a good openning. I thought it was interesting the author talked about SNPs. I studied thoses in AP Biology last year.
To improve, maybe the author could have used direct quotes from the scientists involved. In addtion, maybe the author could have talked a little more about how this relates to forensic science.
I had no idea that DNA could show eye color.
This article was very good. The author did a great job of explaining the study and the methods of the scientists.The summary was well written but could have included more detail.
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