[ExI] Basically, DNA is a computing problem

[Stathis Papaioannou]

On 02/03/2008, Bryan Bishop <kanzure at gmail.com> wrote:

> It is my understanding that it is a bit more complicated than that, not
>  just fluorescent laser spectroscopy, but rather some sort of gel
>  electrophoresis system where the DNA strands are ran down all at once
>  and then you correlate massive datasets together to figure out where
>  all of the DNA molecules were in synch or where they weren't, and stuff
>  like that. I'd like to be wrong - I hope it's as easy as a laser
>  reading each individual nucleotide reporter.

That's so: the laser and computer automate the reading out and
analysis of DNA fragments separated according to length by
electrophoresis. I remember 20 years ago doing it all by hand on big
glass plates, squinting at autoradiographs to read off a few hundred
nucleotides at a time.



-- 
Stathis Papaioannou