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The
Great Mississippi River Race for
Rett Syndrome, May 2001
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The
Double Helix Rose Vine and It's Special Message:
"Amanda's
Dreamkeeper"
Press Release for the Great Mississippi River Race for Rett
Syndrome, May 2001
By Clark Eid
(Clark
Eid's daugther, Amanda, has Rett Syndrome)
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Looking
forward, while the Double Helix rests on still
waters
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Two
rose vines can be seen wrapping completely around the
Double Helix. This mural was created by using over
2,000 pieces of 63 different wood veneers in a technique
known as marquetry.
For
most people, the result was only a beautiful arrangement
of flowers. However, the vines represented
far more than what meets the eye.
The
rose vine was designed by Clark Eid to mirror a segment
of double-stranded DNA that codes for a peptide that
spells "Amanda's Dreamkeeper", in honor of
his daughter, Amanda, who suffers from Rett syndrome.
It
wasn't coincidental that the two rose vines spiraled
around the Double Helix in a right handed configuration.
Nor was it by chance that all 120 roses were arranged
into 60 pairs. This floral arrangement was designed
to mirror a segment of double stranded DNA. Furthermore,
a special message could be deciphered from this small
section of genetic code. How can this be done?
The key to
solving this puzzle is to figure out which of the four
bases a rose stands for, then to use the standard rules
for transcribing and translating the resulting codons
to the gene's protein product. Perhaps the most prominent
clue is found within the types of woods used for the
roses. Note that one rose of each pair was fashioned
from Purple Heart wood. Obviously, this must represent
the bases with the most blue shifted (hypsochromic)
uv absorption; the pyrimidines Thymine (T) and Cytosine
(C)!
The puzzle
could now be solved if you anticipated that the DNA
segment began with the start codon ATG and ended with
one of three stop codons, in this case TAA. If this
missed your attention, a further clue is found in the
sepals, which are the small leaves directly below each
rose. Two sepals beneath a rose stand for two hydrogen
bonds, found in an Adenine (A)-Thymine (T) pair whereas
three sepals represent three hydrogen bonds, or a Guanine
(G)-Cytosine (C) pair.
All that
remains is to identify the template strand (vine) and
write down the code.
This vine
is the one that passes between the compass and the rear
cockpit, growing toward the bow in the 5' to 3' direction,
of course.
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A
close up of the central deck with compass.
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Rose
vine on the Double Helix,
with the bases of DNA added to the photo.
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This provides
the following DNA code, shown divided into clusters
of three bases, or codons:
3'-TAC-CGG-TAC-CGG-TTA-CTA--CGG--AGA--CTA-GCG--CTT-CGG-TAC-TTT--CTT--CTT-GGA-CTT-GCG--ATT-5'
5'-ATG-GCC-ATG-GCC-AAT--GAT-GCC--TCT--GAT-CGC--GAA-GCC-ATG-AAA--GAA-GAA-CCT-GAA-CGC-TAA-3'
This
DNA sequence is transcribed into mRNA, resulting in
the following sequence:
5'-AUG-GCC-AUG-GCC-AAU-GAU-GCC-UCU-GAU-CGC-GAA-GCC-AUG-AAA-GAA-GAA-CCU-GAA-CGC-UAA-3'
Following
the usual rules that apply for translation gives a short
peptide of 18 amino acids. (See table below):
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Rett
Syndrome
Rett syndrome
was first described by Austrian pediatrician Dr.
Andreas Rett in 1965. It
is a severe neurological disorder that randomly
strikes 1 in 10,000 young girls within the first
two years of life. Rett Syndrome also affect males,
but few are known to survive to pregnancy.
After
an apparently normal 6-18 months of development,
a typical Rett syndrome child begins to suffer
the loss of speech and the ability to walk normally.
This is soon followed by the loss of purposeful
hand use which is often replaced by hand wringing
or clapping. More symptoms may develop, including
seizures, severe apraxia, autistic behavior, breathing
dysfunctions, spasticity and prolonged QT syndrome
(a cardiovasular condition) and multiple developmental
delays.
An
unusual X-linked genetic mutation (MECP2) was
recently discovered that accounts for most Rett
syndrome cases.
Rett
syndrome
can affect any child in any family. Current statistics
show over 99% of those affected by Rett syndrome
have no case history of Rett syndrome in their
family.
There
is no cure. Therapies to improve the quality of
life remain elusive.
For
those living with Rett Syndrome, our best
hope for a future free from disabilities is through
research.
A
great challenge lies ahead of us to understand
this incredibly complex disorder and develop an
effective therapy to combat it.
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Codon
Usage in Animal Genes
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| Amino
Acid |
Abbreviations
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mRNA
(5' end to 3' end) |
| Alanine |
Ala
(A) |
GCU,
GCC, GCA, GCG |
| Asparagine
|
Asn (N) |
AAU,
AAC |
| Cysteine |
Cys
(C) |
UGU, UGC |
| Glutamine |
Gln (Q) |
CAA,
CAG |
| Glycine |
Gly
(G) |
GGU,
GGC, GGA, GGG |
| Isoleucine |
Ile (I) |
AUU,
AUC, AUA |
| Leucine |
Leu
(L) |
UUA,
UUG, CUU, CUC, CUA, CUG |
| Methionine |
Met
(M) |
AUG |
| Pheyylalanine |
Phe (F) |
UUU,
UUC |
| Proline |
Pro (P) |
CCU,
CCC, CCA, CCG |
| Serine
|
Ser (S) |
UCU, UCC, UCA, UCG, AGU, AGC |
| Threonine
|
Thr (T) |
ACU,
ACC, ACA, ACG |
| Tryptophane |
Trp (W) |
UGG |
| Tyrosine
|
Tyr (Y) |
UAU, UAC |
| Aspartic
acid |
Asp
(D) |
GAU,
GAC |
| Glutamic
acid |
Glu (E) |
GAA,
GAG |
| Arginine
|
Arg
(R) |
CGU, CGC, CGA, CGG, AGA, AGG |
| Histidine
|
His (H) |
CAU,
CAC |
| Lysine
|
Lys
(K) |
AAA,
AAG |
| Start
Codons |
|
AUG
(and rarely GUG) |
| Stop
Codons |
|
UAA,
UAG, UGA |
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To "decode"
the mRNA, begin with the first codon after the Start
codon, AUG. Locate the codon in the table and you'll
see it corresponds to an amino acid. Stop decoding
when you reach the Stop codon, UAA. For example,
the first codon after the Start codon is GCC which
corresponds to Alanine, abbreviated by the letter
"A". This is the first letter of the message......the
rest of the sequence is decoded codon by codon as
follows:
| -mRNA
sequence |
GCC |
AUG |
GCC |
AAU |
GAU |
GCC |
UCU |
GAU |
CGC |
GAA |
GCC |
AUG |
AAA |
GAA |
GAA |
CCU |
GAA |
CGC |
|
corresponding abbreviation
|
A
|
M
|
A
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N
|
D
|
A
|
S
|
D
|
R
|
E
|
A
|
M
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K
|
E
|
E
|
P
|
E
|
R
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As
you see, the
peptide, when abbreviated, spells out Amanda's Dreamkeeper.
It's
a small exercise, but it carries a big message about
our children's "Dreamkeepers", the researchers who
will liberate them from their disease.
(To
learn more about reading DNA code, please visit the
DNA Learning Center web site: Gene
Almanac from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory! This
website includes "DNA from the Beginning"
and more.......)
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