Forensics: Chapter 7 DNA Profiling

CODIS

Combined DNA Index System used by law enforcement to identify DNA samples from a crime scene

DNA

deoxyribonucleic acid, a self-replicating material present in nearly all living organisms as the main constituent of chromosomes.

Nucleotide (polymers)

consists of a sugar molecule (deoxyribose), a nitrogenous base, and a phosphate group.

Five nitrogenous bases

Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, Cytosine, and Uracil

Adenine is paired with?

thymine in DNA and uracil in RNA

Guanine is paired with?

Cytosine

What is Uracil?

Used instead of thymine in RNA strands

Where can DNA be found?

nucleus and mitochondria

What cells contain DNA?

white blood cells

What cells do NOT contain DNA?

red blood cells

Why do red blood cells not contain DNA?

since red blood cells do not contain a nucleus because of its biconcave shape

Why are mtDNA and DNA different?

Mitochondria DNA(mtDNA) comes solely from the mom, circular, and located in the cytoplasm, and DNA comes from both parents, is linear, and is located in the nucleus.

Karyotype

A picture of all the chromosomes in a cell arranged in pairs

Exons

Coding regions that have a blueprint to produce proteins; accounts for 5% of human DNA

Introns

Non-coding regions that don't contain blueprints for proteins

Allele

An alternative form of a gene.

polymerase chain reaction (PCR)

A technique for amplifying DNA in vitro by incubating with special primers, DNA polymerase molecules, and nucleotides.

Keep DNA....

cool and dry

Polymorphisms

a common DNA mutation or variation of a gene

Genome

The complete set of genetic material (DNA) of an organism, including all of its genes.