DNA Profiling is a method of identification that compares fragments of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). It is sometimes called DNA typing. DNA is the genetic material found within the cell nuclei of all living things. In mammals the strands of DNA are grouped into structures called chromosomes. With the exception of identical twins, the complete DNA of each individual is unique.
A DNA fingerprint is constructed by first extracting a DNA sample from body tissue or fluid such as hair, blood, or saliva. The sample is then segmented using enzymes, and the segments are arranged by size using a process called electrophoresis (Jorg, 1999). The segments are marked with probes and exposed on X-ray film, where they form a characteristic pattern of black bars—the DNA fingerprint. If the DNA fingerprints produced from two different samples match, the two samples probably came from the same person.
DNA profiling was first developed as an identification technique in 1985. Originally used to detect the presence of genetic diseases, DNA profiling soon came to be used in criminal investigations and forensic science. The first criminal conviction based on DNA evidence in the United States occurred in 1988 (Ron, 2001). In criminal investigations, DNA fingerprints derived from evidence collected at the crime scene are compared to the DNA fingerprints of suspects. The DNA evidence can implicate or exonerate a suspect (Pierre, 2002).
The fundamental techniques involved in genetic profiling were discovered serendipitously in 1984 by geneticist Alec J. Jeffreys of the University of Leicester in Great Britain while he was studying the gene for myoglobin, a protein that stores oxygen in muscle cells. He found that the myoglobin gene contains many segments that vary in size and composition from individual to individual and that have no apparent function......
