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Dna Sequencing Synthesis

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Biotechnology is field where everything constantly changes. The rapid growth and development of cutting edge technology is invariably dependent on innovation of scientists and their ability to see a potential in a basic molecular technique and apply it to new processes. DNA sequencing is also dependent on our ability to use gel electrophoresis to separate strands of DNA that differ in size by as little as one base pair.

Originally there were 2 methods which were invented around 1976, but only one is widely used: the chain-termination method invented by Fred Sanger.
The other method is known as the Maxam-Gilbert chemical degradation method, which is the less used method but is still used for specialized purposes, such as analyzing DNA-protein …show more content…

Four different PCR reaction mixtures are prepared, each containing a certain percentage of dideoxynucleoside triphosphate (ddNTP) analogs to one of the four nucleotides (ATP, CTP, GTP or TTP).
Synthesis of the new DNA strand continues until one of these analogs is incorporated, at which time the strand is prematurely truncated. Each PCR reaction will end up containing a mixture of different lengths of DNA strands, all ending with the nucleotide that was dideoxy labeled for that reaction.
Gel electrophoresis is then used to separate the strands of the four reactions, in four separate lanes, and determine the sequence of the original template based on what lengths of strands end with what nucleotide.
In the automated Sanger reaction, primers are used that are labeled with four different coloured fluorescent tags. PCR reactions, in the presence of the different dideoxy nucleotides, are performed as described above. However, next, the four reaction mixtures are then combined and applied to a single lane of a gel. The colour of each fragment is detected using a laser beam and the information is collected by a computer which generates chromatograms showing peaks for each colour, from which the template DNA sequence can be

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