Application of DNA fingerprinting in medicolegal practice

Fingerprinting is thought to establish the identify of an individual in forensic cases. The technique is extensively used for forensic purposes. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the vehicle of generational transference of heritable unit. While arching markers for genetic disease professor Alec Jeffreys discovered that certain regions of DNA showed variations in the number of tandem repeats known as variable number of tandem repeats (VNTRs). Thus DNA fingerprint was named by observing the number of repeated sequences which differ from individual to individual. The structure of DNA is quite flexible, within the nucleus of each cell resides an identical copy of the individual's genetic material, DNA. The coding regions of the genomic DNA are known as genes. The DNA fingerprinting in forensic science has generated considerable excitement in the criminal justice community. DNA fingerprinting can be applied to identify an individual in criminal and civil cases. Polymerase chain reaction has revolutionised molecular biology it has an ability to amplify (usually fewer than 3000 bp) a particular sequence of DNA into million of copies in a very short period. Consequently only a very tiny amount of an organism's DNA needs to be available originally. This property of polymerase chain reaction has enabled to analyse many forensic samples particularly which are degraded. Microsatellite DNA or commonly as short tandem repeats are scattered throughout the human genome and occur on an average of every 10,000 nucleotides. Microsatellite markers are considered to be the most powerful genetic markers. Collection, preservation and handling are the integral part of DNA fingerprinting analysis. There are various methods to isolate DNA from different biological materials but presently most of the laboratories prefer using FTA paper. The age of humans can be estimated by using DNA based on telomere shortening.