This information can assist parents and doctors to reduce the incidence of crippling genetic defects, and treat other disorders much better. Forensic DNA fingerprinting No two individuals have the same genetic makeup, a fact that is now being used by forensic scientists to identify individuals from cell samples left at the crime site. Those patterns look something like a long bar code and are dependent on the exact sequences in the sample. A match between the genetic fingerprint from the crime sample and the suspect has been admissible evidence for a number of years. DNA markers in breeding For centuries plants and animals have been selectively cross-bred to increase desirable traits such as size, usefulness and pest resistance.
Scientists can now use DNA information to identify desirable traits in organisms.
These DNA markers are helping farmers to select superior strains of plants or types of animals for commercial production. The technique is similar to the forensic DNA fingerprint but where a particular DNA bar is known to be associated with a specific superior trait. By using these markers superior animals or plants can be identified easily and early and these individuals selected for further breeding to improve the herd or crop. This information assists breeders to select superior types of animals. Because DNA is the same in all living things, researchers have found it possible to utilise genetic information derived from one organism in the modification of the genes of another.