Genetic Code #9 - DNA Sequencing Mystery Cache
Genetic Code #9 - DNA Sequencing
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size:  (regular)
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Cache is not at the posted coordinates! As a geo-geneticist, you must solve the puzzle below:
DNA sequencing is the process of determining the precise order of nucleotides within a DNA molecule. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases—adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine—in a strand of DNA. The advent of rapid DNA sequencing methods has greatly accelerated biological and medical research and discovery.
Knowledge of DNA sequences has become indispensable for basic biological research, and in numerous applied fields such as diagnostic, biotechnology, forensic biology, and biological systematics. The rapid speed of sequencing attained with modern DNA sequencing technology has been instrumental in the sequencing of complete DNA sequences, or genomes of numerous types and species of life, including the human genome and other complete DNA sequences of many animal, plant, and microbial species.
The chain-termination method developed by Frederick Sanger and coworkers in 1977 soon became the method of choice, owing to its relative ease and reliability. When invented, the chain-terminator method used fewer toxic chemicals and lower amounts of radioactivity than the Maxam and Gilbert method. Because of its comparative ease, the Sanger method was soon automated and was the method used in the first generation of DNA sequencers. The Sanger method, in mass production form, is the technology which produced the first human genome in 2001, ushering in the age of genomics. However, later in the decade, radically different approaches reached the market, bringing the cost per genome down from $100 million in 2001 to $10,000 in 2011.
An example of the results of automated chain-termination DNA sequencing
For more info see Wikipedia: DNA Sequencing
Puzzle:
You, the geo-geneticist, are sequencing the following three DNA samples:
Seq1: 3'-CTCTCGCTCCCGCCCTTGCCCCCGCCCCCGCCCCCGCTTTTGC
GCCCCCGCCCTCGCTTTTGCTCCCGCTTTTGCCCTCGCCCCCGCCCCC-5'
Seq2: 3'-ATATAGATACAGCCATTGACCCAGACACAGACACAGATTTTGC
GACCCAGACATAGATTTTGATACAGATTTTGACATAGACACAGACACA-5'
Seq3: 3'-TTTTTGTTTCTGTTTTTGTTTTTGTTTTTGTCTTTGTTTTTGC
GTTTTTGTTTTTGTTTTTGTTTCTGTTTTTGTTTTTGTCTTTGTCTTT-5'
As your sequencing machine prints out the results, you realize it is 5pm and time to leave work. You stack the three pages of results and head to the elevator. All of a sudden your day just got brighter as you see a geocaching puzzle in the making.
***Do not forget the Bonus Clue.***
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Chmmyr: Yvxr gur rknzcyr, lbhe znpuvar frdhraprf TPNG yrsg gb evtug naq sebz 5' ng gur obggbz gb 3' ng gur gbc
Pnpur: ovfba ghor unatvat va n gerr