What to turn in: A legible paper copy giving your answers
A common medical condition is the
so-called "Megaloheimer's syndrome". People with
Megaloheimer's tend to forget everything about everybody else except
themselves, and often remember good things about themselves that have
actually never happened to them but happened to other people. The
intellectual ability of these patients is usually below average, although
in the early stages of the disease they can pool the wool over everybody's
eyes to effectively
conceal this fact. Often, with the help
of their influential and wealthy friends, people with this condition
attain high power positions in the society.
Biomedical research reveals that the DNA of people with
Megaloheimer's syndrome is likely to contain a relatively high proportion
(more than 0.25 % of the total DNA content, counted "by letters" ) of the following sub-sequence: ACCTT , spaced at regular
intervals along the patient's DNA. In this homework you will write a series of short PERL programs
and try to answer the following question: is the patient XX
likely to develop Megaloheimer's?
The patient's DNA fragment is here: Patient XX. DNA sequence from locus 17NI5 promoter region. Admitted for diagnostic tests April 1 2006.
To approach the problem, write two separate perl programs to read the DNA sequence above and answer the questions below. Write your answer next to each question and provide your perl codes (on a separate sheet, if neccessary). Note that it is possible that some of the ACCTT strings may be split between two lines in the DNA file you have just downloaded.