TELL US ABOUT THE GENETIC TECHNOLOGIES YOU USE IN DNA FAMILY SECRETS.
DNA sequencing technologies have really moved on in the last 20 years. Now you can sequence entire genomes. For the medical side of things, we know a lot about genes that are involved in particular diseases, and we can tell people whether or not they have a gene that predisposes them toward something.
I got involved in the family history side of things by accident. My PhD was on the link between a surname and a Y chromosome. Surnames, like Y chromosomes, come down through the male line. So are all men with the same surname related to each other? Do they all have the same Y chromosome type? Back then the technology was based on DNA fingerprinting. We could do genetic genealogy where we could take two people with the same surname who couldn't find the genealogical links between them. We could take a look at their Y chromosomes and see if they're related.
Now it's moved on and there are direct-to-consumer testing companies. So, if somebody comes to us and says, “I don't know who my biological father is," we can get their DNA tested by one of these direct-to-consumer testing companies. They don't sequence your entire genome; they look at tiny differences, about 700,000 of them, which are places on the genome where we know people tend to differ.
We can then upload their DNA to various databases around the world and look for DNA sharing, which we measure with a unit known as a 'centimorgan'. You share half of your DNA with your parents and about half with your siblings and about a quarter with aunts and ur So, if somebody doesn't know who their father is, but knows who their mum is, you start to look for genetic matches that aren't from the mother's side. From that, you can start to build these family trees.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 2022 من BBC Science Focus.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 2022 من BBC Science Focus.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Do We Finally Know How the Egyptian Pyramids Were Built? - A number of breakthrough studies are beginning to paint a picture of how these wonders of the world were built, but much of the story still remains a mystery...
A number of breakthrough studies are beginning to paint a picture of how these wonders of the world were built, but much of the story still remains a mystery...How the Egyptian pyramids were built has long been a mystery. Constructed as tombs for the pharaohs over 4,000 years ago, more than 100 of them remain. The largest one, the Great Pyramid of Giza, was originally 147m tall (482ft). It's made up of about 2.3 million stone blocks, each weighing between 2.5 and 15 tonnes, and would have had to be transported to the building site and lifted into place with techniques available at the time. To put this into context, it's akin to lifting a double-decker London bus to the top of St Pauls Cathedral a few million times.
An Artificial Heart Inspired by Plumbing - Mechanical circulation could revolutionise transplant design and reduce waiting lists
Mechanical circulation could revolutionise transplant design and reduce waiting lists. In July, this artificial heart was successfully implanted, for the first time, into a patient with end-stage heart failure. Built by The Texas Heart Institute (THI) and BiVACOR, the replacement organ has been dubbed the Total Artificial Heart (TAH). Although, being an implant rather than transplant, it's designed to temporarily support patients while they wait for a real heart transplant.
CHANGE THE (BODY) CLOCKS
Why the end of British Summer Time can be a wake-up call for our circadian health
ARE OCTOPUSES SENTIENT?
If you've watched the Netflix documentary My Octopus Teacher or been lucky enough to encounter an octopus in the wild, you'll know there's something special about them.
THE MEXICAN MOLE LIZARD
Imagine what would happen if an earthworm, a lizard, a snake and a mole went on a night out, had too much too much tequila and let their guard down.
ECLIPSES ON DEMAND
Inside an unassuming building, behind a damp car park in Antwerp, Belgium, scientists are teaching two spacecraft to be dance partners for a performance that will take place in front of the Sun.
How light's 'secret code' reveals the story of the cosmos
The starlight we can see tells us alot about the Universe, but it's the parts we can't see that contain the biggest revelations
Major Stonehenge discovery deepens mystery around ancient monument
New findings suggest a key six-tonne stone came from over 450 miles north of the circle
THE UNEXPECTED RETURN OF PNEUMATIC TUBES
Once a pioneering technology that revolutionised deliveries, pneumatic tubes had all but disappeared. Now they're back and enjoying a resurgence
LIVING FOSSILS
FOR SOME CREATURES ALIVE TODAY TIME HAS ALMOST STOOD STILL. MEET THE 'LIVING FOSSILS' THAT GIVE US A GLIMPSE INTO LIFE IN THE DISTANT PAST