First "Turkish Human Genome” publication from BİLGİ

The great success of BİLGİ Genetics and Bioengineering Department

A team, led by Assistant Prof. Hasan Otu, at the İstanbul Bilgi University  Genetics and Bioengineering Department has released its first “Turkish Human Genome” publication.

The article, published in the prestigious PLOS ONE magazine on January 9th 2014, is on the detailed analysis of a sample participant’s DNA sequence from the Turkish population.

A DNA sequence is composed of random-appearing arrangement of four nucleotides, A,C,G and T. Human genome represents the DNA sequence made up of 3.2 billion nucleotides on 23 chromosomes. The study, carried out by academics at BİLGİ, exposes the sequence of these 3.2 billion nucleotides of a Turkish person.

Any two human genome sequences are similar by more than %99. The most important structural variables are differences in single nucleotides called "Single Nucleotid Polymorphism" (SNP) and changes smaller than 50 nucleotides that were added or deleted from this sequence. In the study, such structural variables inherent in Turks have been found and their relation to diseases have been revealed. Structural differences in specifically 2% of human genome are determinants in cell mechanism and relation to diseases. 

The study identified the critical gene areas related to key structural differences in Turkish genome. 

Compared to other populations, a genome character distinctive to Turkish population has been specified. The study can lay the groundwork for future studies in the field.       

Click here for the article.