THIS PROPOSED EFFORT WILL ESTABLISH AND DISTRIBUTE A REPOSITORY OF HUMAN DNA.

THIS PROPOSED EFFORT WILL ESTABLISH AND DISTRIBUTE A REPOSITORY OF HUMAN DNA. A STANDARD METHODOLOGY WILL BE IMPLEMENTED FOR GENERATING DNA BLOTS FOR SPECIFIC INDIVIDUALS. THESE DNA BLOTS WILL CONTAIN FRAGMENTS OF DNA THAT HAVE BEEN GENERATED BY RESTRICTION ENDONUCLEASE TREATMENT, GEL ELECTROPHORESIS, AND TRANSFERRED TO NYLON MEMBRANES. PHASE I ACTIVITY WILL FOCUS ON GENERATING SETS OF THESE DNA BLOTS FROM GENETICALLY UNRELATED INDIVIDUALS WHOSE LYMPHOCYTES HAVE BEEN COLLECTED, TREATED SO AS TO GROW INDEFINITELY IN VITRO, AND PORTIONS CRYOPRESERVED SO THAT A PERMANENT COLLECTION IS MAINTAINED. PHASE II ACTIVITY WILL INVOLVE EXPANSION OF THESE SETS TO INCLUDE DNA FROM AT LEAST 40 INDIVIDUALS OF THREE DIFFERENT RACES, AND INDIVIDUALS FROM LARGE PEDIGREES THAT HAVE BEEN CHARACTERIZED AS BEING CANCER-PRONE OR CANCER-FREE. THESE DNA BLOTS WILL BE USED BY MOLECULAR BIOLOGISTS, GENETICISTS, AND BIOCHEMISTS TO ADDRESS MANY QUESTIONS INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING: DOES ANY GIVEN DNA PROBE CONTAIN CERTAIN SEQUENCES THAT ARE HOMOLOGOUS TO THOSE OF HUMANS? DOES THIS DNA PROBE EXIST IN SINGLE OR MULTIPLE COPIES? DOES THIS DNA PROBE ACT AS A POLYMORPHIC TRAIT IN HUMANS? IS THIS DNA PROBE LINKED TO A SPECIFIC DISEASE STATE (I.E., CANCER)? THE ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS ARE ALSO PROPOSED TO BE CAPTURED AND ENTERED INTO FILES SIMILAR TO THOSE THAT IBI IS CURRENTLY PROVIDING FOR DNA SEQUENCING.