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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If you know the sequence of DNA of a gene that causes a disease, how does that help in the creation of a treatment for the disease?
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Donna Krasnewich, M.D., Ph.D.: You are asking an excellant questions that is the basis of work in many labs. First, once you know the sequence of DNA then you have to find out what protein the DNA codes for. Then one has to learn how that protein functions, which will help to explain why a dysfunction of that protein causes disease. Now you have narrowed down where to focus the therapy which can either be a biochemical intervention or perhaps an interaction with some physiologic process. There are also currently some innovative work being done on strategies to design a therapy that DNA or RNA interacts directly with other genetic material to change the disease course. This is very new and still in the laboratory phase. |
| Ben Henig, Susquehanna Township High School |
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