RNA versus DNA

Our first stretch goal is to sequence RNA from blood of the same three males and females that we are sequencing DNA from. Typically the DNA in each of our cells is the same. That's why you can be identified at a crime scene by DNA taken from blood, or from a saliva sample, or from a hair follicle (yes, sometimes CSI shows get it right). But, what makes your blood cells different from your saliva different from your hair is the set of genes that are turned on (or off... or somewhere in between) in that tissue; this is the RNA.

The part of the genome (DNA) that is transcribed into RNA is a relatively small proportion - about 1-2%. It can be challenging to figure out which parts of the billions of DNA nucleotides in the genome code for genes with only the strings of DNA. With the RNA sequences we can start to identify which parts of the genome encode genes (broadly speaking). Basically, using the RNA sequences we can start to make sense of all the A's, T's, G's, and C's across the genome.