Question

What is DNA fingerprinting? Why is it called finger printing?

Answer 1

DNA fingerprinting is the process of determining an individual's DNA characteristics, which are as unique as fingerprints. DNA fingerprinting is a technique that simultaneously detects lots of minisatellites in the genome to produce a pattern unique to an individual. It was developed by a British geneticist Prof. Alec Jefferys in 1984. The probability of having two people with the same DNA fingerprint that are not identical twins is very small. Each of us is genetically unique and this genetic variation could be used to identify individuals, as a conventional fingerprint does. Thus it is called DNA fingerprinting.