Question

The technique of DNA fingerprinting relies on

• A. Repetitive DNA
  
• B. Both a and b
  
• C. None of the above
  
• D. Mini-satellite DNA
  

Answer 1

The correct option is B Both a and b


DNA fingerprinting

DNA fingerprinting is a technique that allows the identification of variations which are unique to each organism using a VNTR probe that shows a very high degree of polymorphism.

Repetitive DNA

Repetitive DNA is the DNA sequence in which a stretch of DNA sequence is repeated multiple times in the genome.

• They do not code for any protein and mutations in repetitive DNA are inherited.
• They are used in studying evolution and DNA fingerprinting.

They are of two types: minisatellite DNA and microsatellite DNA.

Mini-satellite DNA

Minisatellites are tandemly repeated or short repeats of DNA with 10-60 bp.

• VNTR used as probes in DNA fingerprinting belongs to mini-satellite DNA.

Final answer: (c) Both a and b