Science & Technology

KEY POINTS

DNA Fingerprinting

·         It is a technique, for identification of an individual by examining their DNA.

·         DNA, or Deoxyribonucleic acid contains all the information about an organism and it also helps transfer the characteristics to the next generation.

·         It composed of Bases [Adenine (A), Thymine (T), Guanine (G), and Cytosine (C)], Sugar and a Phosphate.

·         Two bases, link to each other using hydrogen bonds to form base pairs.

·         Every human has three billion such base pairs. Though 99.7% of the make-up is similar between any two people; there is a 0.3% difference which accounts to almost 10 million different base pairs.

·         By examining this we can identify the relation between two people. There is a 50% match between a child and his/her father or mother. Between siblings it can range anywhere from 25% to 75%. Monozygotic twins show a 100% match.

Applications

·         Forensics - DNA fingerprinting can be accomplished with a very small quantity of DNA, and is a way to identify a culprit in a crime and also exonerate innocent people of crimes.

·         DNA fingerprinting can also be easily used to identify a decomposing body.

·         Non-Criminal Identification - DNA fingerprinting can also be employed in paternity test to identify adoptive children and settling paternity suits quickly and accurately.

·         DNA fingerprinting has made it possible for people separated as a result of natural disaster or war to find their children and parents.

·         Medicine –It is used to identify good genetic matches for organ or marrow donation.

·         Doctors are also beginning to use DNA fingerprinting as a tool for designing "personalized" medical treatments for cancer patients.

·         Agriculture: All living things have DNA which means that DNA fingerprinting can be used to identify genetically modified or "heritage" plants, or plants which are likely to have therapeutic value.

·         It can also be used to prove pedigree in valuable animals such as race horses.

Challenges

·         DNA can typically be extracted from blood and semen stains on clothes or on the body, from hair and teeth (with roots), and even from bones and flesh if they are not completely charred.

·         It is vital to ensure that the DNA of the investigators does not get mixed with that of the victims or the suspects.

·         And this is where India’s police forces have a lot of catching up to do with counterparts overseas.

·         While central agencies such as the CBI and the NIA have found DNA fingerprinting to be very effective, thus ensuring that crime scenes are protected and samples collected by forensic teams, state police forces are yet to be trained in conducting such scientific investigations.

·         The AarushiTalwar murder case of 2008 is a prime example where the crime scene was not made out of bounds, both police and media trampled all over it.

·         There is also a serious paucity of capacity for DNA fingerprinting in the country.

·         While several states have their own forensic labs, DNA fingerprinting is available only at a few places.

·         There are also several private labs that offer DNA testing, but all work under an unregulated environment, as a law to regulate such institutions has lain in a limbo since 2003.

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