2010 National DNA Day Online Chatroom Transcript
This is just one question from an archive of the National DNA Day Moderated Chat held in April 2010. The NHGRI Director and many genomics experts from across NHGRI took questions from students, teachers and the general public on topics ranging from basic genomic research, to the genetic basis of disease, to ethical questions about genetic privacy.
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How do you look at genes? JR
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Emily Smith, M.S.:
I am the first (and only) genetic counselor for a small community-based hospital. I work mainly in a clinical cancer genetics setting but occasionally will work in other areas of clinical genetics. Non-clinical duties include coordinating monthly multidisciplinary breast conferences, lecturing medical students and residents about topics in genetics, and speaking to the community about the importance of family history.
To look at genes, we need to go to the lab. First we need to know which gene we are looking for. Once we have that, we can pick it out of DNA with a primer, which finds out gene by it a part of its sequence (the order of Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine, and Thymine) and attaches to it. Once we find the gene we are looking for, we can do the test or experiment we want. |
| East Haven High School in CT (10th grade student) |
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