2009 National DNA Day Online Chatroom Transcript

This is just one question from an archive of the National DNA Day Moderated Chat held in April 2009. 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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What is nanotechnology and how it is related to DNA?      Eric Green, M.D., Ph.D.: My research areas include: mapping, sequencing, and comparing eukaryotic genomes; using genome sequencing to study the genetic basis of human diseases. Nanotechnology typically refers to tools for performing experiments on a 'incredibly small' scale (i.e., nano scale). More precisely, it is the study of matter on an atomic and molecular scale. How does this relate to DNA? Well, DNA analysis involves studying the DNA molecule, which is 'incredibly small'; actually reading a single DNA molecule requires nanotechnology. The most cutting-edge new methods for sequencing DNA are now being developed, and these are types of nanotechnologies. B.B.S.P.Nag SMVCBT, Nagpur, INDIA (teacher)

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