DNA fingerprinting No two individuals have the same genetic composition, a fact that is now being used by forensic scientists to identify individuals from small traces of tissue left at the crime site. In the 1970s, scientists discovered bacterial enzymes that cut DNA at different sites depending on the DNA's chemical structure. A range of these enzymes is available, each cutting the DNA at different places. As the chemical structure of DNA reflects the genetic composition of the individual, the range of DNA fragments produced when DNA is treated with these enzymes is characteristic of that individual. By treating DNA from a tissue or blood sample with various restriction enzymes, separating the pieces of DNA by size and then using labeled DNA probes to locate one or more specific genes, forensic scientists have developed an extremely sensitive method of genetic fingerprinting.
Diagnosis based on biotechnology can be speedier, more sensitive, simpler and more specific.
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