A simple convenient DNA collection and storage method for GWAS Essay

A simple convenient DNA collection and storage method for GWAS analysis using FTA - Essay Example Fujita (2006). It comprises of a cellulose-based matrix containing chemicals for cell lysis and nucleic acid preservation.   The chemicals are activated when a biological fluid contacts the surface.   An additional feature of this chemical treatment is bacterial and viral inactivation.   Not only are the biosamples protected from microbial growth contamination, but the user is also protected from any potential biohazards present in the biosample.   These features make FTA paper an ideal medium for transporting bioamples at room temperature without the requirement of a biohazard shipping label. FTA paper is a commonly used substrate for DNA storage in a number of industries such as pharmaceutics, law enforcement, agriculture and governmental regulatory agencies.   This medium has been available commercially for a number of years by Whatman Inc., who have demonstrated that DNA stored on FTA paper has a long, useful lifetime.   In fact, suitability for use of DNA recovered from up to seventeen year-old biosamples in human identification assays has been demonstrated, inarguably. and aniline dyes; or liver tumours and vinyl chloride). The high prevalence of limb malformations in newborns in the late 1950s was ultimately found to be due to the mothers’ ingestion of thalidomide during pregnancy. German National Ethics Council (2004). However genetic epidemiology studies not individuals but population groups. Biobanks serve as large molecular repositories where a large amount of data in the form of DNA from diverse sources can be compared. For example, the United Kingdom BioBank intends to archive the genetic material of 5,00,000 individuals as mentioned in UK Biobank literature. Large series of samples from donors (several hundred to several thousand) with a given multifactorial hereditary condition – such as hypertension, cancer, diabetes, asthma or epilepsy – are compared with corresponding series from healthy donors. The