The Purpose of Comparative Genomics

 

Comparative Genomics question what traits make us human. Through research gathered on the subject, scientists have been able to understand the structure and function of human genes which in turn, have helped develop strategies to fight against human diseases. This study has served as a powerful tool for better understanding the evolutionary changes in other organisms and compare it to that of humans. It has helped discover certain genes that are present in only certain species and organisms that give each his own unique characteristic.

 

The majority for the experiments done in this field of sience involve Bioinformatics and DNA Sequnecing. In Bioinformatics, methods of storing, retrieving, organizing and analyzing biological data are developed. DNA Sequencing is pretty self-explanatory. In DNA Sequencing, the genomes of different organisms are sequenced and stored (thats where the bioinformatics come in) for future use in either Comparative Genomic studies or other fields of scientific study.

 

Since this type of scientific study has been practiced more and more, the technology used has had to be modified to keep up with the latest experimenting. For example, the DNA Sequencing and reading has had to changed a lot. What used to have to be done by hand is now done by computers and monitors specifically made for this practice.