Byte Size Biology

Why it’s hard to assemble repetitive DNA regions

By Iddo on January 22nd, 2011

Exhibit 1

Exhibit 2

So here are EssOh and OhOne assembling a rather frustrating puzzle containing cows. The same 5-6 cow “characters” are repeated, which is a perfect way to illustrate low-complexity DNA sequences, and why they are hard to assemble, especially when the pieces are small, like those you get from some second generation sequencers.

2 Responses to “Why it’s hard to assemble repetitive DNA regions”

1. Moreno says:

   23-January-2011 at 8:59 AM

   That’s incredible! I have just blogged about this issue with an identical metaphor! http://mygenomix.wordpress.com/2011/01/21/assemblathon-bioinformatici-a-duello/ (it’s in italian)

   I chose fractals instead of repetitive cows though 🙂

2. Iddo says:

   23-January-2011 at 10:15 AM

   And we both used Educa puzzles…