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7 months ago in Biology , Biotech By Vishal

How can molecular biology and biotechnology be applied to study lactose intolerance in animals?

Lactose intolerance isn't just a human condition. As a comparative biologist, I'm interested in the evolutionary and mechanistic aspects across species. I want to move beyond observational studies and understand how techniques like gene expression analysis, metagenomics, and CRISPR could be used to dissect the roles of the lactase gene and gut microbiome in different animal models.

 

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By Mukesh Answered 2 months ago

This is a fantastic interdisciplinary question. I would approach it by first sequencing the lactase (LCT) gene promoter region across tolerant and intolerant individuals of a target species to find regulatory variants. Concurrently, I’ve found metagenomic profiling of the gut microbiome essential it reveals which bacterial communities compensate for the missing enzyme. For functional validation, CRISPR-based edits in cell lines or model organisms can directly test candidate genetic variants. This combines genetics, microbiology, and modern biotech for a complete picture.

 

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