Forensic Science Chapter 1 Summary
Pre-Reading Notes (Very Short Introduction - Chapter 5; Fundamentals of Forensic Science – Chapter 11):
• Red and white cell blood antigens are polymorphic: they exist in more than one form and everyone inherits one or more forms of each of them
• A successful DNA profile makes it possible to reach a conclusion that a DNA sample came from a specific individual, giving law enforcement and forensic science a new, powerful identification tool that complements fingerprints and other methods of identification
• DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) – found in nearly all cells expect nerve cells and dead red blood cells
• DNA is a polymer – a molecule made up of repeating simpler units called monomers
• DNA located in the nucleus and in the mitochondria
• Described …show more content…
eye colour) genes are called alleles. If a person inherits the same form of a gene from the mother and the father, that person is said to be homozygous. If a person inherits two different forms of the same gene, they are said to be heterozygous. Some alleles are dominant, whereas others are recessive – dominant are the genes you will display if you get two different types of genes.
• The variation of alleles at several loci can be combined to provide a statistical evaluation of the likelihood of a particular set of alleles in a given population
• Visible manifestation of variability (eye colour, hair colour) is called the phenotype
• The genotype is the genetic description of the allele
• In DNA analysis, locations (loci) that are polymorphic are purposely chosen. These loci exhibit variation among members of a population. The more variation there is at a locus, the more discriminating the analysis will be
• Two types of variability in alleles. The first type is sequence polymorphisms. The other type of variation in DNA is called length polymorphism (repetition – tandem repeats) When variation in the number of repeats occurs from one individual to the next, then this locus is described as having a variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR). A person’s DNA type is a description of the types of alleles at all of the locations being analysed on the
• Red and white cell blood antigens are polymorphic: they exist in more than one form and everyone inherits one or more forms of each of them
• A successful DNA profile makes it possible to reach a conclusion that a DNA sample came from a specific individual, giving law enforcement and forensic science a new, powerful identification tool that complements fingerprints and other methods of identification
• DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) – found in nearly all cells expect nerve cells and dead red blood cells
• DNA is a polymer – a molecule made up of repeating simpler units called monomers
• DNA located in the nucleus and in the mitochondria
• Described …show more content…
eye colour) genes are called alleles. If a person inherits the same form of a gene from the mother and the father, that person is said to be homozygous. If a person inherits two different forms of the same gene, they are said to be heterozygous. Some alleles are dominant, whereas others are recessive – dominant are the genes you will display if you get two different types of genes.
• The variation of alleles at several loci can be combined to provide a statistical evaluation of the likelihood of a particular set of alleles in a given population
• Visible manifestation of variability (eye colour, hair colour) is called the phenotype
• The genotype is the genetic description of the allele
• In DNA analysis, locations (loci) that are polymorphic are purposely chosen. These loci exhibit variation among members of a population. The more variation there is at a locus, the more discriminating the analysis will be
• Two types of variability in alleles. The first type is sequence polymorphisms. The other type of variation in DNA is called length polymorphism (repetition – tandem repeats) When variation in the number of repeats occurs from one individual to the next, then this locus is described as having a variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR). A person’s DNA type is a description of the types of alleles at all of the locations being analysed on the