Credit: Whitney Baxter/Iowa State University
Iowa State University associate professor James Koltes holds a single nucleotide polymorphism chip. These glass microscope slides allow for testing thousands or even millions of single DNA bases in the genome for use in breeding or to identify genetic regions that impact traits important in agricultural species. Identifying regulatory regions will help refine the tests used on these chips to allow for precision breeding and new research to study how gene function is regulated across all genes in the genome.