Functional Genomic Analysis of C. elegans Using RNA Interference

Pathogens can spread widely and affect many organisms at the same time. Several organisms evolve to become immune or to resist pathogens including humans and C. elegans. In this experiment, C. elegans avoidance assay plates were analyzed to determine if the C. elegans evolved to resist the pathogen S. marcerens.

Each human being has something called DNA. DNA is described as genetics and an extremely long macromolecule that is the main component of chromosomes and is the material that transfers genetic characteristics in all life forms. DNA constructs of two nucleotide strands coiled around each other in a ladder like arrangement with the sidepieces composed of alternating phosphate and deoxyribose units and the rungs composed of the purine and pyrimidine bases adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Each chromosome consist of one continuous thread-like molecule of DNA coiled tightly around proteins and contains a portion of the 6,400,000,000 basepairs that make up your DNA.

The dsRNA can be delivered to the worms in many ways, but in this particular experiment, the bacteria containing plasmid for dsRNA is fed to the worms. The dsRNA is able to move throughout cells in worms by the pore created by SID-1

The experiment can further be improved by having an exact number of worms and E. coli on each agar plate to ensure every variable is the same except for the controls. Also, if the C. elegans were starved for a longer period they might have been more attracted to the diacetyl; further distinguishing the affected and unaffected worms (Urushihata et al. 2016).

Introduction All living and once living things have a genetic code; which is made up by DNA. DNA is made up of phosphates, sugars, carbons, nitrogenous bases and hydrogen bonds all put together to make a double helical structure. The nitrogenous bases in DNA are Adenine(A), Thymine(T), Cytosin(C), and Guanine(G). They are bonded

Ok let's break DNA down first. DNA stands for Deoxyribonucleic acid. Deoxyribose is referred to the absence of an O in the Carbon 2 of the ribose pentose. DNA is made up of six smaller molecules a five-carbon sugar called deoxyribose, a phosphate molecule and four different nitrogenous bases adenine, thymine, cytosine and guanine. The basic building block of DNA is called a NUCLEOTIDE. A nucleotide is made up of one sugar molecule, one phosphate molecule and one of the four bases. In other words, the sugar that makes DNA is ribose a pentose sugar in the case of this molecule DNA its lacking an Oxygen in its carbon 2. Nucleic is referred to its position, our DNA most anyways is located on the nucleus of our cells, the presence of this nucleus is what differs us from Prokaryotes us being Eukaryotes.

How DNA replicates is quite a simple process. First, a DNA molecule is "unzipped". In other words, it splits into two strands of DNA at one end of the DNA molecule. This separation will cause a formation of a replication fork.

Ever since I read the novel Some Girls Bite by Chloe Neill, my interest in University of Chicago took root. Every aspect, from its renown Core Curriculum to its extensive research opportunities and its diverse student body, readily matches the setting in which I hope to immerse myself over the next four years. It still amazes me how I can major in Cellular and Molecular Biology, explore the city of Chicago, and spend a semester abroad. Hopefully, I will one day be able to take advantage of UChicago’s many research opportunities by participating at the BioPhysics Core Facilities because I want to study genome sequences with state of the art technology.

During this training, Famke had the opportunity to attend seminars, scientific meetings and participate in scientific discussions during the journal club. I have noticed that she is intelligent and can learn very quickly about different subjects. Famke’s main weakness revealed to be the report write-up. It took her several months to write it at the expense of doing the final experiments and some experimental analysis. She contributed to genotype zebrafish mutant lines that she didn’t have time to analyse.

Transcription is where DNA is transcribed into RNA which then can be pass to the ribosome’s to act as a template for protein synthesis. Before transcription can begin DNA must unwind and the two halves of the molecule much come apart so exposing the base sequence. This process begins when a region of a two DNA strands is unzipped by enzyme called RNA polymerase attaches to the DNA molecule at the imitation site.

DNA is a long curved structure, made up of pairs of four specific bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine, is the repository of a code from which all of our cells are made. The code is made up of base pairs which look like the

Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) are any type of variation that can occur in the genome (Jabukowski & Kornfeld, 1999). SNP mapping is a well-recognized technique within the field of C. elegans research (Zipperlen et al., 2005, Swan, Curtis, McKusick, Volnov, Mapa, & Cancilla, 2002, Kaletta & Hengartner, 2006). The paper began by briefly explaining the two advantages of utilizing SNP mapping (Davis, Hammarlund, Harrach, Hullett, Olsen, & Jorgensen, 2005). The first being that there is no associated phenotype, meaning that mutations that are masked by other typical marker mutations can still be mapped without being affected. Secondly, SNPs are more closely compacted compared to other markers. Because of this, SNP mapping could potentially offer the resolution of single genes. These two advantages make SNP mapping an attractive technique for C. elegans researchers (Davis et al., 2005). The purpose of using this method in this article was to show that SNP mapping could be used to correctly map a known gene, dpy-5. Furthermore, they used this method to map the mutations in an undifferentiated strain, and to show that the behavioral phenotype for that particular strain can be mapped to three loci at the same time (Davis et al., 2005). SNP mapping is typically done in two phases (Davis

The scalability and simplicity in the genome makes this model organism ideal for genetic screens. Genetic screens, used to identify changes in genes, have helped uncover how cells go through the cell cycle, replicate their DNA, and even the process of cell division. Using a non-redundant genome comes clarity of a particular sequence; meaning, if one gene is knocked out it is quite easy to tell what the function of that gene is, since there is nothing else like it in the genome. Scientists must make sense of fundamental processes—like gene regulation—in a model organism, such as yeast, before knowing enough to fully decipher the process in the human

All living organisms, from amoebas to humans, have a molecular code called DNA in their cells, which instruct the activities that keep the organism alive. DNA is made up of long, twisted strands of four molecular “letters” (A, T, G, and C), which pair up according to their complementary base pairs, and their order determines how proteins — the vital molecules that perform all the major tasks in our cells — are made. (Refer to Diagram 1 to help sum up the concept.)

For each model creature, RefSeq intends to give discrete and connected records to the genomic DNA, the quality transcripts, and the proteins emerging from those transcripts. RefSeq is constrained to significant life forms for which adequate information are accessible (more than