DNA PROFILING

DNA profiling is a forensic technique in criminal investigations, comparing criminal suspects'

profiles to DNA evidence so as to assess the likelihood of their involvement in the crime.
1. Extraction is usually carried out by mixing a tissue sample with a solvent which dissolves
DNA but precipitates protein.
2. DNA fragments are separated using gel electrophoresis.
3. The fragments mixture is placed in a trough cut into agarose gel. The gel is immersed in
buffer at pH 7, and a current applied to the gel.
4. All the DNA fragments move towards the positive electrodes because they are
negatively charged at pH7.Small fragments move faster than large fragments. Gel
electrophoresis sperate fragments depending on their size.
5. Dye is also added to color the DNA fragments.
6. UV radiation fix the DNA on nylon membrane.
Polymerase Chain Reaction is used to amplify the shorter DNA fragments.
The piece of DNA to be cloned is mixed with DNA polymerase of Thermus Aquaticus bacteria
containing sufficient supply of four nucleotides. Some primers are added to the solution.
DNA is heated to about 90-95 C to separate the DNA strands. It is then cooled to 50-60C to
allow the primer to bind to the DNA fragment. It is again heated to 70-75C to allow the
complementary nucleotide to bind to the DNA strands.
PCR enable DNA profiling to be very successful on very small tissue samples, such as spots of
blood, hair roots.

UME AIMAN