Question

1. Tell us about a specific, genetically controlled trait in an organism of interest and describe the importance of this trait.

2. USE either Google scholar or Pubmed in NCBI to find a research article that reveals the official name of a gene that geneticists have discovered that controls this trait.

3. Search the Nucleotide database in NCBI (link below) using the gene name. Share with us the size of the protein the gene encodes.

4. Conduct a primer pair search unsing the NCBI site and share with us the results.

5. Describe how you might use PCR in research of this gene or in determining the genotype of the organism at this gene locus?

NCBI site link

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/?term= (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Using the NCBI site to design PCR primers

Answer 1

1.Sickle cell anemia.This is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by the substitution of glutamic acid by valine on 6th position of Beta chain of hemoglobin.In such individuals the RBCs become sickle shaped under hypoxic conditions which causes hemolysis and ultimately anemia.The homozygous individuals are at a greater disadvantage abd have an average life expectency of 40-60 yrs where as heterozygous individuals have an advantage that they are not infected by malarial parasite.

2.(Spritz RA, DeRiel JK, Forget BG, Weissman SM)Complete nucleotide sequence of the human delta-globin gene.

3.The beta globin protein is  146 amino acids long and has a molecular weight of 15,867 Da.

5.PCR would be used to amplify this gene for muatgenic reseach.