Question

to sequence the human genome (~3 billion base pairs) bacterial artificial chromosomes (bac) were used to make genomic libraries of the human genome. what is the minimum number of bac clones required to have 5 x coverage of the human genome (assume each bac can hold ~100kb insert)?

Answer 1

To achieve 5x coverage of the 3 billion base pair human genome using 100kb insert BACs, a minimum of 150,000 BAC clones is required.

Step-by-step explanation:

To sequence the human genome, which contains approximately 3 billion base pairs, and achieve a coverage of 5x using bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) that can hold about 100kb inserts, we must first calculate the total coverage needed.

We do this by multiplying the size of the genome by the coverage level: 3 billion base pairs x 5 = 15 billion base pairs of coverage required.

Next, we divide this by the size of the insert that each BAC can hold: 15 billion base pairs / 100,000 base pairs = 150,000 BAC clones.

Therefore, a minimum of 150,000 BAC clones are required for 5x coverage of the human genome.