Name That Gene with Nucleotide Blast

Objective: In this activity you will use the website for the National Center for Biotechnology Information to identify a sequence of bases from a DNA sample.

Background:

With the increase in DNA and protein sequence databases, there is a growing need for more faster and efficient methods to analyze this large amount of data. One of the most commonly used bioinformatics tools today to study DNA and protein sequences is called BLAST. 

BLAST stands for Basic Local Alignment Search Tool. It is a widely used bioinformatics program that was first introduced by Stephen Altschul et al. in 1990 and has since become one of the most popular tools for sequence similarity search.

The NCBI contains a database of genes sequenced and identified. The work of a number of scientists and a wide variety of areas allows for information to be compiled into this database.

Instructions

You will be given nucleotide sequences found in real human DNA that is associated with a genetic disease when mutated. Your job is to compare the sequences you are given with the nucleotide sequence of most known genes, using the BLAST tool to search genetic databases. Keep this window open while you perform your tests, this will make it easy to copy and paste gene sequences.

1. Go to the homepage for NCBI ( www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

2. Click on the word "BLAST" located under "popular resources"

3. Click on "Nucleotide BLAST"

4. Copy and paste one of the nucleotide sequences below into the top box. Basically, the program will run through all the known sequences and find a match. Depending on how busy the server is, this may take a while.

5. The closest match will be shown with a short description, for more information on your sequence click the link for GENE. This will give you the description of the gene that your sequence matched.

Gene Sequences:

Gene Sequence 1

Gene Sequence 2

ATG GCG GGT CTG ACG GCG GCG GCC CCG CGG CCC GGA GTC CTC CTG CTC CTG CTG TCC ATC CTC CAC
CCC TCT CGG CCT GGA GGG GTC CCT GGG GCC ATT CCT GGT GGA GTT CCT GGA GGA GTC TT

Gene Sequence 3

ATG CTC ACA TTC ATG GCC TCT GAC AGC GAG GAA GAA GTG TGT GAT GAG CGG ACG TCC CTA ATG TCG
GCC GAG AGC CCC AGC CCG CGC TCC TGC CAG GAG GGC AGG CAG GGC CCA GAG GAT GGA G

Gene Sequence 4

ATG TTT TAT ACA GGT GTA GCC TGT AAG AGA TGA AGC CTG GTA TTT ATA GAA ATT GAC TTA TTT TAT
TCT CAT ATT TAC ATG TGC ATA ATT TTC CAT ATG CCA GAA AAG TTG AAT AGT ATC AGA TTC CAA ATC T

Gene Sequence 5

ATG CGT CGA GGG CGT CTG CTG GAG ATC GCC CTG GGA TTT ACC GTG CTT TTA GCG TCC TAC ACG AGC
CAT GGG GCG GAC GCC AAT TTG GAG GCT GGG AAC GTG AAG GAA ACC AGA GCC AGT CGG GCC

Gene Sequence 6

ATG CCG CCC AAA ACC CCC CGA AAA ACG GCC GCC ACC GCC GCC GCT GCC GCC GCG GAA CCC GGC ACC
GCC GCC GCC GCC CCC TCC TGA GGG ACC CAG AGC AGG ACA GCG GCC CGG AGG AC

Gene Sequence 7

ATG TTG TGCAAT ATC CAT CTA CTG TAG TTA AGA TAT TCA GTA GTT TGT TTT TCA TAA GCA TGT AAT
TGA TCA TAT TTC TGC CAA GGA TGT GCC TTC AAC TTT ATA ATT ATA GTG TTG TAA AAT ATT TTT GTC TG

Gene Sequence 8

ATG CCA TCT TCC TTG ATG TTG GAG GTA CCT GCT CTG GCA GAT TTC AAC CGG GCT TGG ACA GAA
CTT ACC GAC TGG CTT TCT CTG CTT GAT CAA GTT ATA AAA TCA CAG AGG GTG ATG GTG GGT GAC CTT

Analysis

Synthesis: Write a brief summary that describes the gene and its importance to human and biological studies.

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