The Difficulty In Computing Ancestral DNA Sequences: Using Computational Analysis To Reconstruct DNA Sequences

Abstract

Intriguing work has been carried out in order to decipher the genetic codes of today’s existing species. However, little is known about the genetic makeup of species that existed long ago. Exciting possibilities have recently been raised in the field of computational analysis (1), proposing that reconstruction of ancestral DNA sequences can be performed if the DNA sequences of the existing species are known. Being able to perform such reconstructions would simplify the study of the evolution of these species, and uncover many mysteries regarding life that once existed on this planet.

In order to perform reconstructions of unknown ancestral DNA sequences, many different types of problems must be solved, all of which can be approached computationally. Examples of such problems include building a phylogenetic tree of the evolutionary line in question, determining a multiple alignment of the existing species being analyzed, or working out the actual identity of the nucleotides within the ancestral sequence. The problem presented in this paper considers the level of modification within the ancestral sequence.