Day 2 Notes
Population Genomics
Population Genomics: The study of variation in a large group of individuals
SNPs
- DNA varies roughly 1 in 1000 bases
- These changes are know as SNPs
- Different versions of a gene are called alleles
- We all have 2 alleles for each gene: this set of alleles is known as GENOTYPE
SNPs Influence Traits
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Depending on the gene in which it resides a SNP may increase or decrease the chance of a trait (phenotype) occuring
- Some traits are influenced by many genes which means lots of SNPs may be linked to them
- Height has over 22000 related SNPs!!
But what about mutation???
- Both Are Changes but SNps are common and occur in 99.9% of the population
We use SNPs to link genes to traits
-SNPS that are present in a population with a particular trait but not in a population without the trait are said to be “associated” with that trait
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This research is known as GWAS
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Genome Wide Association Study
Finding SNPs can help us:
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Understand why people differ
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Predict whether someone will have a trait