Introduc on

The process of DNA fingerprin ng was invented by Alec Jeffreys at the University of Leicester in 1985.
He was knighted in 1994.

DNA fingerprin ng or DNA profiling, any of several similar techniques for analyzing and comparing
DNA from separate sources, used especially in law enforcement to iden fy suspects from hair, blood,
semen, or other biological materials found at the scene of a violent crime. It depends on the fact that
no two people, save iden cal twins, have exactly the same DNA sequence, and that although only
limited segments of a person's DNA are scru nized in the procedure, those segments will be
sta s cally unique.
History of DNA Fingerprin ng

•Up to 1984, the only method of establishing andauthen ca ng personal iden fica on was by the
fingerprint process

•DNA fingerprin ng technique was devised in 1985 by Alec Jeffrey at University of Leicester in
England,

while working on the sequences within myoglobin gene.

DNA Fingerprin ng

It is a technique, by which an individual can be iden fied at molecular level. With the advancement
of science and technology STR analysis has become very popular in forensic laboratories. Scien sts
have chosen repea ng sequences in the DNA, which are present in all individuals on different
chromosomes, and are known to vary from individual to individual except in iden cal twins. These
are used as gene c markers to iden fy the Individual.
DNA fingerprin ng technology

DNA fingerprin ng technology has made it possible to iden fy the source of biological samples found
at scenes of crime. This will resolve disputes of maternity /paternity, iden fica on of mu lated
remains, iden fica on of rape/ murder, iden fica on of missing child, exchange of babies in hospital
wards, forensic wildlife, protec on of farmers rights and biodiversity. This remarkable technology
provides exclusion as well as posi ve iden fica on with virtually 100% precision.

Biological Material Used for DNA fingerprin ng

Blood Hair Saliva

Semen

Body ssue cells

DNA samples have been obtained from vaginal cells transferred to the outside of a condom during
sexual intercourse.
Stage Of DNA Fingerprin ng

Cells broken down to release DNA

DNA strands cut into fragments

Fragments separated

Pa ern of fragments analysed

DNA fingerprin ng: Methods

A common procedure for DNA fingerprin ng is restric on fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). In
this method, DNA is extracted from a sample and cut into segments using enzymes.special restric on
RFLP focuses on contain sequences of repeated DNA bases, which vary widely from person to
person. The segments are separated using a laboratory technique called electrophoresis, which sorts
the fragments by length. The segments are radioac vely tagged to produce a visual pa ern known as
an autoradiograph, or DNA fingerprint, on X-ray film. A newer method known as short tandem
repeats (STR) analyzes DNA segments for the number of repeats at 13 specific DNA sites. The chance
of misiden fica on in this procedure is one in several billion. Yet another process, polymerase chain
reac on, is used to produce mul ple copies of segments from a very limited amount of DNA (as
li le) as 50 molecules), enabling a DNA fingerprint to be made from a single hair. Once a sufficient
sample has been produced, the pa ern of the alleles (see gene cs) from a limited number of genes
is compared with the pa ern from the reference sample. A nonmatch is conclusive, but the
technique provides less certainty when a match occurs.
DNA fingerprin ng: Applica ons

DNA fingerprin ng can be applied in the following scenarios:

Establishment of paternity and Maternity Establishment of the parentage for child swapping

cases Establish the iden ty of the rapist in rape cases

Iden fica on of mu lated remains In murder,

bomb blast, air crashes etc.

Wild life iden fica on, and

Seed authen ca on.

Conclusion

In conclusion, while evidences can be tampered with and witnesses can turn hos le, DNA will never
lie. It will indeed, unravel the truth even several decades a er a crime has been commi ed. Such are
the powers of DNA Fingerprin ng