Denmark 2

Lone F. Nielsen (18)

City/Region: Ikast, Ringkjøbing amt E-mail: lone@nielsen.ms Hobbies: Playing the recorder and the piano Career: Biochemist School: Ikast Gymnasium og HF

DNA-Sequencing using PCR and Fluorescence Detection

Lone wanted to learn how to determine the genetic code hidden in DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid the 'building blocks of life' that is found in all prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and in many viruses). DNA codes genetic information for the transmission of inherited traits. The chemical DNA was first discovered in 1869, but its role in genetic inheritance was not demonstrated until the 1940s and it was only in 1953 when James Watson and Francis Crick determined that the structure of DNA to be a double-helix polymer, a spiral consisting of two DNA. By a practical analysis Lone determined the sequence, the genetic code, of a specific gene called infB from the bacteria A fulgidus. However, as the gene exists in all kinds of living organisms it was only after comparing the sequence found in similar sequences that she was able to realise her goal and gain an insight into evolution itself. Looking at the similarities found in the sequences she was able to make a calculated guess of how closely related the species were. After such comparisons Lone presumes that the archaea bacteria, where the A. flugidus belongs, is more related to humans and animals than to any other bacteria.