Question

Help! I need to find the dna sequence of a gene that causes a particular disease, where would I start?

Answer 1

hey! r ur researches based on one specific specie?

Answer 2

human. a specific gene deletion that would cause a certain disease

Answer 3

If u have no idea of the gene involved, u should first search if such a problem has been studied in other organisms, even plants. If it's the case, look if some homologues of the gene u are lookin for have been characterized.
If u have no informations at all, u should begin with COMPARTIVE MASS SPECTROMETRY, to compare healthy and not healthy protein composition. if u observe a difference in the sick phenotype, u can use REVERSE TRANSCRIPTION to find the gene involved.

Answer 4

If by "find the dna sequence" you mean get the order of As Gs Ts and Cs, unless you're looking at a specific organism, you can't. The gene you're studying can be described in terms of the protein in creates, which you can say as a list of amino acids. But considering that each amino acid has three or four different ACGT combos that can make it, you really can't sequence a specific gene unless it is particular to a single organism.

If you're only talking about the gene of the organism, you use restriction enzymes to extract it and then gel electrophoresis to get an idea of what it looks like.