what are the benefits of DNA discovery?
146972
PUTTING CRIMINALS BEHIND BARS, SETTING INNOCENT PEOPLE FREE. AND FINDING OUT IF THE BABY BELONGS TO YOU.
191938
pcr, gene therapy, antisense drugs... umm
227910
Scientists know the tobacco genome. When doing genetic studies, scientists can tell which genes are where, where to cut and splice and add things, and can determine if there are problems with the plant's DNA. Pretty much, tobacco is useful because we know it and it makes a great reference value.
10548
PCR study and Genetic Genome Study.\n\nBoth of these studies have to deal with the full mapping of the human genetic system.  Thus, enabling us to control diseases at the genetic level, and thus making it easier on the lympathic system.  (By means of limiting irriation due to medications, ect).\n\nThat's perhaps the most important premise.
301566
DNA has information for proteins and proteins do most of the functions in our cells. Hence, financial benefits are usually with the DNA that code for specific protein of commercial importance. \n\nWe can make such proteins, by recombinant DNA technology, outside our body: \n\nIt is possible to take the specific DNA from some of our cells, put  it in bacteria and thereby make the 'recombined DNA' of bacteria produce the protein of your interest! This way companies make  \n\n1. therapeutic drugs (e.g., recombinant insulin is used to treat certain type of diabetes disease),\n2. vaccines (e.g., recombinant hepatitis B vaccine is used), \n3. diagnostic proteins (recombinant proteins from the disease causing microbe can be produced by recombinant DNA technology - for further use in diagnostic kits - as markers/controls or to raise antibodies) \n\nand sell them! \n\n4. Similarly one can produce proteins from other organisms to can help in textile, paper, food and other industries.\n\nAll these applications are currently in practice.\n\nNow, the recombinant DNA itself has a few commercial values but this is not so significant. As Wolfee (& others) says, companies do sell specific rec-DNA to academic or commercial research labs. If you discover a new rec-DNA for above mentioned (protein-production) purposes, you can patent this and sell to companies which can make more money.
1082706
With todays DNA testing the answer must be Yes !\n\nAnd when it comes back of course you can ... everyone needs a hobby.
552548
LEICESTER, England - One morning 20 years ago, Alec Jeffreys stumbled upon DNA fingerprinting, identifying the patterns of genetic material that are unique to almost every individual. The discovery revolutionized everything from criminal investigations to family law.\n\nJeffreys is still awed, and a bit worried, by the power of the technology he unleashed upon the world.
274016
Without doubt DNA - (de-oxy-ribo-nu-cleic-acid) has become the greatest aid to police investigation since the formulation of finger-printing.  Not only does it prove beyond doubt that a person was responsible for a crime but more importantly it can prove that the suspect is innocent.  Only the tip of the iceberg has been touched so far and the process will continue to become even a greater aid in the future.  Air samples from the scene of a major crime will in the future be able to be analyzed and DNA extracted from the air.   As the National Data-base for DNA gets larger there will be no hiding place for those responsible for some of the most serious crimes that are currently hardest to prove.
427517
Something to do w/ genetics............\n\n-Mr. Happy-\n:o)
1003762
Hi.  I am a scientist who works in the pharmaceutical/biotech industry.  In my field, we do a wide variety of things:\n\nIn terms of cell-based drug discovery assays, we can take cells from a person, grow them in petri dishes and test new drugs that we've developed on them to see if the cells live or die in response to the drug. (Of course, this is in very VERY general terms; it's much more complicated than that).  If we want to test a variety of cell types against a variety of chemical compounds, we can use automated technology called High Throughput Screening... In HTS, very sophotisticated robots carry out 96 or 384 experiments at a time.   \n\nMolecular biologists can change cells by adding viruses or DNA plasmids and allowing the virus or plasmid to assimilate itself into the host cells's normal DNA.  This process is called transfection.  This is useful if you want to overexpress a gene or condition that you want to study or model/test a drug against.  Molecular biologists can also clone these plasmids and grow more of them for large-scale experiments.  Two other common techniques that molecular biologists use are PCR (in which we can look at an organism's  genes) and Western Blots (that allows us to look at certain proteins that are produced / expressed within cells).\n\nHistologists can take tissues and use immunohistochemistry (IHC) to detect the presence of certain proteins or other characteristics of the cells.  In IHC, antibodies which targe a certain cellular protein are applied to a preserved tissue and that antibody can then be detected by fluorescence or an enzyme-based coloration process.  \n\nThese are just a few of the techniques that we use to develop new drug therapeutics.  Be aware that the process to develop one drug from start to finish takes about 15-20 years and about $1billion, which might give you an idea of exactly how complicated it can get once you get into detail on the topic.
1087349
One good one:\n\nDNA replication is much more resistant to errors ... so DNA molecules can be *much* longer than RNA and still survive replication.  This supports the stable propagation of a much larger number of genes (tens of thousands of genes) from generation to generation without degradation.
597016
Uses of DNA Fingerprints\n^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^\nDNA fingerprints are useful in several areas of society. They are used by professionals in human health and the justice system. \n\n-Diagnosis of inherited disorders \n\nDNA fingerprinting is used to diagnose inherited disorders in both prenatal and newborn babies in hospitals around the world. These disorders may include cystic fibrosis, hemophilia, Huntington's disease, familial Alzheimer's, sickle cell anemia, thalassemia, and many others. \n\nEarly detection of such disorders enables the medical staff to prepare themselves and the parents for proper treatment of the child. In some programs, genetic counselors use DNA fingerprint information to help prospective parents understand the risk of having an affected child. In other programs, prospective parents use DNA fingerprint information in their decisions concerning affected pregnancies. \n\n-Developing cures for inherited disorders \n\nResearch programs to locate inherited disorders on the chromosomes depend on the information contained in DNA fingerprints. By studying the DNA fingerprints of relatives who have a history of some particular disorder, or by comparing large groups of people with and without the disorder, it is possible to identify DNA patterns associated with the disease in question. This work is a necessary first step in designing an eventual genetic cure for these disorders. \n\n-Biological Evidence \n\nFBI and police labs around the U.S. have begun to use DNA fingerprints to link suspects to biological evidence -- blood or semen stains, hair, or items of clothing -- found at the scene of a crime. Since 1987, more than 150 cases have been decided with the assistance of DNA fingerprint evidence. \n\nAnother important use of DNA fingerprints in the court system is to establish paternity in custody and child support litigation. In these applications, DNA fingerprints bring an unprecedented, nearly perfect accuracy to the determination. \n\n-Personal identification \n\nBecause every organ or tissue of an individual contains the same DNA fingerprint, the U.S. armed services have just begun a program to collect DNA fingerprints from all personnel for use later, in case they are needed to identify casualties or persons missing in action. The DNA method will be far superior to the dogtags, dental records, and blood typing strategies currently in use.
953682
Advantages\nYou can catch a culprit\nYou can release a wrongly blamed person\nYou can find cures for diseases\nYou can judge the nature of culprits and prevent further wrongdoings\n\nDisadvantages\nYou can keep a record of private activites of an individual\nGender bias, racism etc
793287
How does DNA prove guilt or innocence?\nHow does stem cell research can determine intelligence and physical traits in the newborn?\nWhy does insulin extends the life of diabetics?\nHow do fuel emissions destroy the atmosphere?\nAre new power drinks good for you?\nHow can blood cholesterol be lowered?
180476
I think the biggest one would be the potential to cure or alleviate suffering from diseases.  Many diseases are encoded in your DNA.  If we could diagnose these conditions in the womb, we would be able to help a lot.
152909
Check out the discovery web site.
259889
The only down side I could possible see would be one of privacy - what are they going to do with YOUR data?  What if they store it away and 10 years from now science isolates a gene for the onset of some awful disease - and somehow your DNA shows up in some database somewhere as having this and medical insurance company gets ahold of it and drops you... same with your life insurance because of a "pre-existing condition"...  Not that this hasn't probably been taken care of by the researcher's lawyers.  Also, this wouldn't stop me from participating.\n\nThis is actually a facinating topic.  I have often thought this sort of study would be especially good for the African decendents outside Africa compared with those in Africa - this would be interesting since a great many African-Americans and -Europeans ancestors were victims of the slave trade and would have no means to trace their ancestory.  At least if they can isolate certain genes, they could find the areas their ancestors may have been from.