DNA FINGERPRINTING

HARSH MOONAT CLASS XII A

What is DNA Fingerprinting?

A technique used by scientists to distinguish between individuals of the same species using only samples of their DNA. It is also known as DNA PROFILING

Why DNA Fingerprinting?

The chemical structure of everyone's DNA is the same. The only difference between people (or any animal) is the order of the base pairs. The information contained in DNA is determined primarily by the sequence of letters along the zipper . Using these sequences, every person could be identified solely by the sequence of their base pairs (except identical monozygotic twins) There are millions of base pairs, the task would be very

These patterns do not, however, give an individual "fingerprint," they are able to determine whether two DNA samples are from the same person, related people, or nonrelated people.

time-consuming. Instead, scientists are able to use a shorter DNA Fingerprinting method, because of repeating patterns in DNA.

Historical background
DNA fingerprinting was developed in 1984 by Alec. J. Jeffrey at the University of Leicester He was studying the gene of myoglobin. Dr. V.K. Kashyap and Dr. Lalji Singh started the DNA fingerprinting technology in India
Alec. J. Jeffrey

Principle of DNA Fingerprinting

DNA carries a short repetitive sequences of nucleotides which do not code for proteins and specific for each person. These sequences are called variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR's) or minisatellite. In DNA Fingerprinting VNTR are used as probe because of its high degree of polymorphism.
(polymorphism is the occurrence of inheritable mutations in a population at high frequency)

Biological materials used for DNA fingerprinting

Blood Hair Saliva Semen Body tissue cells Bone

Steps of DNA Fingerprinting

Step ONE : Isolation of DNA

Isolation of DNA from a nucleus and purification by chemical method or centrifugation.

Steps of DNA Fingerprinting

Step TWO: Amplification

If only a small amount of DNA is available it can be amplified using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)

Steps of DNA Fingerprinting

Step Three: digestion
The DNA is cut into fragments using restriction enzymes which cuts DNA at a specific base sequence. The sections of DNA that are cut out are called restriction fragments.

Steps of DNA Fingerprinting

Step Five: Southern blotting
The distribution of DNA pieces is transferred to a nylon or nitrocellulose sheet by placing the sheet on the gel and soaking them overnight.
( Edwin Southern : A Biochemist)

Steps of DNA Fingerprinting

Step Four: Separation of DNA Fragments
Fragments are separated on the basis of size using a process called gel electrophoresis. DNA fragments are injected into wells and an electric current is applied along the gel. DNA is negatively charged so it is attracted to the positive end of the gel. The shorter DNA fragments move faster than the longer DNA fragments. DNA is separated on basis of size.

Steps of DNA Fingerprinting

Step Seven: Autoradiography
An X-ray film is developed for this binding pattern and a photographic copy of the DNA bands is obtained. This pattern is called

DNA Fingerprint.

Steps of DNA Fingerprinting

Step six: Hybridization
Special radioactive DNA probes contains repeated sequences of bases complementary to those on VNTRs. These radioactive probes binds to the VNTRs on the nitrocellulose or nylon membrane and produce a fluorescent image.

Practical Applications of DNA Fingerprinting

Paternity and Maternity Tests

Personal Identification

(person inherits his or her VNTRs from his or her parents. Parentchild VNTR pattern analysis has been used to solve standard father-identification cases ) (The notion of using DNA fingerprints as a sort of genetic bar code to identify individuals)
Can someone tell me who is my father?

Practical Applications of DNA Fingerprinting

Criminal Identification and Forensics

isolated from blood, hair, skin cells, or other genetic evidence left at the scene of a crime can be compared )

(DNA

Practical Applications of DNA Fingerprinting

Diagnosis of Inherited Disorders and developing cure
(diagnose inherited disorders in both prenatal and newborn babies and by studying the DNA fingerprints of relatives who have a history of some particular disorder identify DNA patterns associated with the disease) (Find out relationship between various races of human beings and study of organisms facing danger of extinction)

Study of Evolution

DNA Fingerprinting (AT A GLANCE)

DNA sections with repeating sequences are called VNTRs and are used in DNA fingerprinting. No DNA fingerprint test can prove defendant's guilt, but a match can establish probability. A fingerprint begins with a sample of tissue such as blood, skin, or semen. Fingerprinting can also be used to determine paternity and to identify victims of disasters or war. It was developed in 1984 by Alec. J. Jeffrey. N.? Gel electrophoresis separates the DNA fragments by size, as the smaller pieces move faster through the gel. E? Restriction enzymes break DNA into more manageable sizes for fingerprinting. PCR technique is used to amplify tiny amount of DNA. R..? Indian government funded the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and N.? T?
Diagnostics (CDFD).

HOTS Questions
1. HGP provides detailed information about genetic constitution of an individual, then why DNA fingerprinting is used in criminal cases and paternity disputes?
2.VNTR does not code for any protein yet they are important in DNA fingerprinting?

3. What is DNA polymorphism? 4. If insufficient amount of DNA found from a crime scene, how amount of DNA could be increases?
5. Differentiate repetitive DNA and satellite DNA.

6. During investigations of a criminal case it was found that DNA fingerprints of two suspicious individuals was exactly similar. How it can be possible?

REFERENCES
NCERT Text book of Biology (XII) Comprehensive Biology (XII) Trumans elementary Biology +1 Madhuban a text book of Biology part 2 Moderns abc of Biology XII Internet