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Genomics
Genomics is changing the face of biology and giving
scientists the tools to crack the code of life. A genome
is the complete set of chromosomes (DNA) carried by
every cell, a tiny blueprint that contains all the
information an organism needs to live. This set of
instructions determines, for example, a plant’s color
and shape, and determines how it will grow.
The genome consists of long, ladder-like molecules of
DNA. The rungs of the ladder are called base pairs and a
genome has hundreds of millions, even billions, of them.
The base pairs are grouped into genes, which give
instructions for the organism to function. The genes are
grouped together on their DNA strands inside
chromosomes. Together, they make up a genome. Scientists
have been studying the genomes of living things for
years, but when it came to deciphering what different
genes do, they had been using a map with very few
landmarks. New techniques, such as marker-assisted
breeding*, are helping researchers fill in the
missing pieces of those vital maps.
Marker
assisted breeding |
A process using
genetic fingerprinting techniques
that allows plant breeders to track
genes that produce a desired trait
to select plants that will reproduce
that trait in their offspring.
Marker assisted breeding allows plant
breeders to speed up the results of traditional plant
breeding. |
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