not cattle, but science

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knabe

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http://www.pacificbiosciences.com/index.php

go to the bottom right and click on the technology demo video.  pretty impressive. 

this technology was attempted two doors from where i work now a few years ago, but was limited to about 200-500 base pairs.  this is a different group.  if they can really do this, it will be interesting to see what experiments are designed.

people, this is real change.
 

knabe

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what this would allow, is cattle breeders themselves, to submit samples to be sequenced, rather than relying on companies, or research labs.  basically, it would lower the entry price for new directions in studying diversity in a breed, study heterosis, study methylation/environment effect for a lot lower entry cost than ever before.  this type of platform, whether it's this one or not, will help transform science.  it could open up new opportunities to introgress genes to a larger audience, avoiding genetic engineering (the part of "artificially" inserting genes) and use classical genetic engineering, plant and animal breeding, and allowing it a more competitive advantage to  gene splicing, that everyone seems so concerned about.

i just don't think the general public is aware just how close science is to discovering major new advances in understanding life.  it will be an exciting time for kids as they enter the biosciences.  in many ways, my time has passed, as i was in the effort to sequence the human genome and genes for years, mostly from an industrial brute force perspective.  kids can be thankful that era is essentially over, and they can focus more of their time on discovery, as opposed to production biology.
 

knabe

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http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/04/30/mother-diet-at-time-conception-may-alter-baby-dna/?intcmp=obnetwork


The researchers found that in all six genes, the infants who were conceived during the rainy season had consistently higher rates of "methylation" in their DNA. A methylation is a change made to DNA it's the addition of methyl groups to the DNA strand, a so-called epigenetic modification to DNA and is a process that can silence the expression of a gene.


Methylation generally depends on nutrients such as folate, choline, methionine, and vitamins B2 and B6, the researchers said. In the study, methylation in the infants' genes was linked to various nutrient levels in the mother's blood.
 

Gargan

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So, for instance, methylation process could aid in breeding two carriers of defects without the risk of a positive ( mutant) offspring ?
 

RyanChandler

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"Increasing evidence is revealing a role of methylation in the interaction of environmental factors with genetic expression. Differences in maternal care during the first 6 days of life in the rat induce differential methylation patterns in some promoter regions, thus influencing gene expression. Furthermore, processes that are even more dynamic, such as interleukin signaling, have been shown to be regulated by methylation."



knabe, I'm new to this topic but I don't exactly understand when you say, "rates of methylation."  Are there not standard "stages" at which methylation occurs? The word "rates" is throwing me off.
 

knabe

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-XBAR- said:
then what Is meant by "gene knockout"


gene knockout is a technique to see what happens when a gene is not functioning. a loss of function perspective of gene expression.
 

knabe

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-XBAR- said:
knabe, I'm new to this topic but I don't exactly understand when you say, "rates of methylation."  Are there not standard "stages" at which methylation occurs? The word "rates" is throwing me off.


rate of methylation is simple the number of sites that are methylated due to some event, ie exposure to environment. it is my opinion and increasingly the community at large, that methylation stores environmental adaptation. it is not the only thing that does it. there may be sites for accumulation of methylation.
 
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