DNA FINGERPRINTING technology

[attachment=16394]

Introduction to DNA Basics

DNA, also known as deoxyribonucleic acid, contains a specific sequence of bases

called nucleotides which contain the information of all the characteristics of living

organisms. This information was inherited through the DNA of their parents. DNA is

found in almost every cell of ever y living organism. The DNA represents the

“instruction book” for making living organisms


RFLPs and VNTRs


Now that we have a better understanding of what DNA actually is, lets move on

to the basics of making a DNA fingerprint. There are three types of DNA fingerprints:

RFLPs, VNTRs, and STRs.



STRs and PCR

Currently, the most popular method of DNA fingerprinting are short tandem

repeats, or STRs for short. Unlike VNTRs which analyze minisatellites that have repeat

sequences of 9-80 base pairs, STRs use microsatellites which have repeat sequences of

only 2-5 base pairs, introducing the “less is more” philosophy to the world of DNA

fingerprinting



Applications of DNA Fingerprinting

DNA fingerprinting is used in a variety of applications all over the world. They

can be used to solve criminal cases such as rape, used to conduct a paternity test, or even

used to determine the authenticity of rare sports memorabilia. Whatever the case, it is

evident that DNA fingerprinting has revolutionized the way the world identifies