Sunday, May 18, 2008
Student Union Building, Upper (Queensborough Community College)
90

The Alu Insert and Human Diversity

Brooke Rodriguez and Regina Sullivan. Queensborough Community College, Bayside, NY

The ALU insertion is proliferated throughout the biodiversity of the natural world with an assertive approximation of one million copies in the primate genomes alone (M.Batzer, et.al). ALU Repeats and Human Genomic Diversity, Nature Publishing Group. 2002) and an even more astounding display in the human genome. The repetitive sequence has been preserved throughout genomic narration and is acknowledged as a �Jump� or �Junk� gene, which is appropriate to its mobility and non-coding disposition. The objective of the study was to evaluate hair samples obtained from the college students and their friends/family and analyzed by means of PCR and electrophoresis. The Hardy Weinberg population genetics was then used to determine the over all frequency of the ALU gene within the college student population (including their friends/families). Through this study a broader understanding of human diversity as just one of many parts in the continuance of the natural world's epic tale.