Question

Basis of DNA fingerprinting is

• A. relative proportion of purines and pyrimidines
• B. relative difference in DNA occurrence in blood, skin and saliva
• C. relative amounts of DNA in ridges and groves of fingerprints
• D. satellite DNA occuring as highly short DNA segments.

Answer 1

Answer: (D)

satellite DNA occuring as highly short DNA segments.

By cutting a sample of DNA into fragments and comparing it with other samples it's possible to work out if the DNA has come from the same person. This technique is called DNA fingerprinting, and is a technique used to help solve crimes where the suspect may have left a sample of body tissue at the crime scene. Satellite DNA consists of very large arrays of tandemly repeating, non-coding DNA. Satellite DNA is the main component of functional centromeres, and form the main structural constituent of heterochromatin. The term satellite is used to describe DNA sequences that comprise short head-to-tail tandem repeats incorporating specific motifs. So, the correct option is "Satellite DNA occurring as highly short DNA segments."