Nov 15 2004
From The Space Library
Scientists from NASA's ARC and Yale University announced that they had designed a complete map of gene activities in human tissue. The researchers had affixed pieces of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequences from the human genetic blueprint ~ known as the genome ~ to specially patterned glass slides. Using these slides, they had measured levels of ribonucleic acid ~ biochemical copies of DNA, which activating genes produce to make proteins. Among their findings, the scientists had discovered that certain DNA sequences, which they had previously believed are nonfunctioning, are actually functioning ~ they are encoding active genes. The NASA scientists hoped their results would enable other researchers to analyze genes for human diseases and to develop new treatments for them. In addition, their research had a specific benefit for NASA: the NASA scientists hoped it would help them understand how human genes respond to spaceflight, so that they would be better able to protect the health of astronauts. (NASA, “NASA Scientists Help Create Complete Human Genome Activity,” news release 04-376, 15 November 2004; Viktor Stolc et al., “A Gene Expression Map for the Euchromatic Genome of Drosophila Melanogaster,” Science 360, no. 5696 (22 October 2004): 655-660.
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