USES: Fingerprinting

DNA fingerprinting, also known as DNA typing, is a method in which you would match twp strands of DNA. It is mostly used for identifying an individual person in forensics. Every living thing has a unique combination of genes. There are many techniques scientists use to fingerprint. One of them is to look at enzymes that split the DNA at very exact places. This separates the DNA from others. Using this, they can construct a DNA pattern or fingerprint that is different than any other person. All this takes around 60 days. In forensic uses, DNA fragments such as skin samples or strands of hair can be compared to a DNA fingerprint of a suspected criminal, which can be useful in many ways. This form of DNA fingerprinting was first used in Great Britain in the mid-1980s and was first used in the United States in 1987.
The process of fingerprinting is separated into five steps, which include: separation of the DNA, cutting and sorting it, transferring it to nylon, probing it, and finally fingerprinting it. First, DNA has to be found from cells or body tissue, like blood or hair. Then the DNA is cut using special enzymes like EcoR1 found in bacteria. Different types of enzymes are used for the separate DNA. The DNA pieces are then sorted by according to size and then passed through a gel.
This helps by determining the different size particles of the DNA. Then the DNA pieces are moved to a nylon sheet. Then they probe the DNA by adding radioactive probes, which produce a pattern known as the DNA fingerprint.

 

Uses: Recombinant DNA
Recombinant DNA is one of the techniques of genetic engineering. It is the procedure in which you remove DNA from one organism and putting it into another organism’s DNA giving it new traits. This can make crops resistant to bugs or disease and make livestock larger or leaner. By replacing DNA strands, it could help people who suffer from genetic diseases.

To make recombinant DNA, first a DNA molecule is split by using a restriction enzyme. This separates the DNA molecule at specific places of the base pairs. Base pairs are compounds in the DNA and contain the cell’s information. The isolated DNA is base pairs are then spliced or joined back together. Then by inserting this strand o f DNA into an animal, it could change its physical traits.