What Is DNA Sequencing?
More Programs and Publications Featuring Dr. Brandy Gunsolus
In this program:
DNA sequencing is another part of genetic testing. Watch as medical laboratory scientist Dr. Brandy Gunsolus explains what happens in DNA sequencing tests and when and why these tests are performed.
Transcript
Interviewer:
Dr. Gunsolus, let's drill down further around genetic testing basics, I'm going to ask you a three-part question, and if you can enlighten me and the audience, that will be great. What is DNA sequencing? Why is this used, and when should this be used?
Dr. Brandy Gunsolus:
So DNA sequencing is looking at how those building blocks of your DNA are in order. What is the actual order of each one of those building blocks, and when we use this, we're looking from the tiny changes in that DNA, and I would be amazed that there's some...if you can have a lot of differing and it not affect you at all, and then there are some that you can have one tiny little change and it cause mass havoc on your system and in your body and how that body operates. So what we're looking for are those if tiny teeny pieces and what order those pieces are in, sometimes they could be just a change, sometimes we're looking to see if maybe a piece has been skipped and that would be a deletion. Sometimes we're looking to see if a piece has extra pieces added in, and so all of those go into the DNA sequencing. Now, to give you another reason why I would use this, because we have been talking about COVID, DNA sequencing or RNA sequencing in COVID's case is how we actually determine what variants are out there and what variants are being seen in the different areas by looking at those teeny tiny changes in those little, tiny building blocks that make up that virus, and as those change, we can see whether or not either the patient has a new mutation or what mutation or what variant they do have.
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