Aim: Repair DNA mutations, or kill all cells with DNA mutations, to prolong healthy lifespan.
Problem: How to sequence DNA without killing the cell in which it resides, and thereby identify mutated DNA in the living cell?
Once solved:
step 1. Sequence the DNA base pairs of a cell, without killing the cell, while comparing the sequence to a stored "unmutated DNA template". Differences between the sequence and the template indicates an unwanted mutation.
step 2. Repair the mutated DNA, or kill the cell with the mutated DNA.
step 3. Repeat steps 1 and 2.
Unfortunately, not only are we unable to sequence DNA without killing the cell, it is also a horrendously large quantity of DNA on which to run a comparative analysis.
Quote-
The human genome comprises the information contained in one set of human chromosomes which themselves contain about 3 billion base pairs (bp) of DNA in 46 chromosomes (22 autosome pairs + 2 sex chromosomes). The total length of DNA present in one adult human is calculated as:
= (length of 1 bp) x (number of bp per cell) x (number of cells in the body)
= (0.34 × 10^−9 m)(6 × 10^9)(10^13)
= 20 billion kilometers
-Close quote.
Source: https://hypertextbook.com/facts/1998/StevenChen.shtml
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