COMPARATIVE

GENOMICS
AND ITS APPLICATION IN
DRUG DISCOVERY
“Our own genomes carry the
story of evolution, written in
DNA, the language of
molecular genetics, and the
narrative is unmistakable.”

~ Kenneth R. Miller
• Table of contents

01 03
Introduction
Applications
What is a genome made of?

02 04
What other genomes have
been sequenced?
Conclusions
 Introduction •
Comparative genomics is a field of
biological research in which
researchers use a variety of tools
to compare the complete genome
sequences of different species.
What is a genome made of?
The genomes of almost all living creatures, both plants and animals,
consist of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), the chemical chain that
includes the genes that code for different proteins and the regulatory
sequences that turn those genes on and off.

Precisely which protein is produced by any given gene is determined

by the sequence in which four building blocks - adenine (A), thymine
(T), cytosine (C) and guanine (G) - are laid out along DNA's twisted,
double-helix structure.
What other genomes have been
sequenced?
Researchers have sequenced the complete genomes of
hundreds of animals and plants-more than 250 animal species
and 50 species of birds alone-and the list continues to grow
almost daily.

In addition to the sequencing of the human genome, which was

completed in 2003, scientists involved in the Human Genome
Project sequenced the genomes of a number of model
organisms that are commonly used as surrogates in studying
human biology.

These include the rat, puffer fish, fruit fly, sea squirt, roundworm,
and the bacterium Escherichia coli.
What are the benefits of comparative
genomics?
Identifying DNA sequences that have been "conserved" - that is, preserved in
many different organisms over millions of years - is an important step toward
understanding the genome itself.

Comparative genomics also provides a powerful tool for studying evolution.

As DNA sequencing technology becomes more powerful and less expensive,

comparative genomics is finding wider applications in agriculture, biotechnology
and zoology as a tool to tease apart the often subtle differences among animal
species.
• Results of Comparative Genomics
About 60 percent of genes are
conserved between fruit flies and
humans, meaning that the two
organisms appear to share a core set of
genes. Two-thirds of human genes
known to be involved in cancer have
counterparts in the fruit fly.
Researchers studying milk production
have mapped genes that increase the
yield of high-fat milk in cows, resulting
in higher production levels and
potentially a significant economic
impact. This is one of many studies
aimed at increasing food production.
Six species of yeast prompted scientists
to significantly revise their initial
catalog of yeast genes and to predict a
new set of functional elements that play
a role in regulating genome activity, not
just in yeast but across many species .
Scientists have found genes that
increase muscling in cattle by twofold;
they found the same genes in racing
dogs, and such results may foster
human performance studies.
• Applications in drug discovery

A B
Permits use of a comparative Sequence similarity provides
genomic analysis to identify some insights into putative
potential new targets shared functions for most gene
across several bacterial species products.
or particular to a single species.
 . Finally, availability of the entire sequence of the gene target of interest
permits rapid construction of gene knockouts to validate the utility of the
target and facile construction of expression plasmids for production of
protein and development of assays.
The fact that bacterial and fungal genes can be assessed rapidly for
their relevance as potential antibiotic targets by determining the effect of
knocking out the gene and the fact that their genomes are small enough
to be sequenced in their entirety are compelling reasons that the field of
genomics will likely find its first real utility in the development of new
antimicrobials.
Thanks!
Do you have any questions?
unnatimdere@gmail.com

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