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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How are molecular techniques helpful in detection of antibiotic resistant genes?      Tom Markello, M.D., Ph.D.: I am a principle investigator in a protocol to treat pulmonary fibrosis in patients with Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome, and see other rare genetic disorders studied in NHGRI's Medical Genetics Branch. There are not actually antibiotic resistant genes per se, there are antibiotic resistant organisms. If they can cause disease then they are antibiotic resistant pathogens. Antibiotic resistant genes in pathogens can be isolated from patients who did not respond to normal treatments, then the mechanism of resistance can be deduced from the DNA sequence by comparison to the known sequence and if different, then this information can bed used in a helpful way SMV Center for Biotechnology, Nagpur (teacher)

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