Abstract

SD Pandit
Clinical and Molecular Medicine Program, National Heart, Lung, And Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA

The next generation of molecular imaging teams would comprise of scientists from various disciplines such as molecular biology, physicists, chemists, radiologists and others. The goal of this presentation is to provide a basic understanding of the principles underlying the molecular methods for the next generation of molecular imagers. The first presentation will provide an introduction to basic methods pertaining to DNA and RNA. These methods are routinely utilized in the laboratory by molecular biologists to manipulate nucleic acids. In addition, the molecular imager will be introduced to the commonly used reporter-probe systems utilized in optical and PET imaging.

The second presentation will focus on genomics methods such as DNA chip array/microarray technology. Microarray technology allows us to determine the changes in expression of thousands of genes simultaneously. With every human gene on an expression microarray, we can investigate the full extent of transcriptional changes underlying a disease process. Fundamentals of microarray technology and its applications will be discussed.

The human genome committee announced the completion of the sequencing of the human genome in April 2003, coinciding with the 50 years since the discovery of DNA. The entire sequence of three billion base pairs of human genome is now available. The sequencing of human genome has provided a complete list of genes from which we can search for medically important genes. The total number of genes encoded by the human genome has turned out to be far less than was previously estimated by the scientific community.

The genomes of a number of model organism have been sequenced to date and additional model organism DNA sequences are being completed at a rapid pace. Comparing genome sequences from multiple organisms will shed light on important DNA elements that have been evolutionarily conserved. Furthermore, the genomic community is currently cataloguing the inherited variation in the genome. This is likely to have a profound impact on our understanding of the underlying genetic components of complex diseases such as cancer, asthma, osteoporosis, atherosclerosis, mental illness and others. In future, the genomic revolution will radically change the current practice of medicine especially the diagnosis, treatment and ultimately the prognosis of diseases.

This presentation will provide an overview of the current status and future directions of genomics and its impact on health and disease.



Keywords: molecular biology, reporter gene probe, DNA chip, microarray