21-01-2012, 01:25 PM
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
