2005 National DNA Day Online Chatroom Transcript
This is just one question from an archive of the National DNA Day Moderated Chat held in April 2005. 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 scientists search for genes associated with certain human behaviors, (eating disorders, addiction, depression, attention deficit disorders, autism)?
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Bob Nussbaum, M.D.: We first need to figure out how "genetic" a particular disease is. We often do this by comparing twins in which either only one twin has the disease or both. Next, remember that each person differs at approximately 1 in 1000 bases of their 6 billion bases of DNA. To find the genetic basis for such diseases, we either study families or populations in which some people have the disease and some do not. We then compare the sequence of DNA in affected versus unaffected people, looking for differences in sequence that are consistently found in affected versus unaffected people. This kind of study, called "gene mapping", requires skills of being able to make careful diagnoses and observations, highly sophisticated laboratory studies and computer-based statistical analyses. |
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