DNA Analysis: Unraveling the Code of Life

1. Chapter 11 DNA Analysis “The capacity to blunder slightly is the real marvel of DNA. Without this special attribute, we would still be anaerobic bacteria and there would be no music.” —Lewis Thomas, Physician, author

2. DNA Analysis Students will learn: • That DNA is a long-chain polymer found in nucleated cells, which contain genetic information. • That DNA can be used to identify or clear potential suspects in crimes. • How DNA is extracted and characterized. • How to apply the concepts of RFLP, PCR, and STRs to characterize DNA. • The role that statistics plays in determining the probability that two people would have the same sequence in a fragment of DNA. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

3. DNA Analysis Students will be able to: • Explain that DNA is a long molecule, tightly packed in the form of a chromosome with genetic material wrapped around it. • Isolate and extract DNA from cells. • Describe the function and purpose of a restriction enzyme. • Calculate probabilities of identity using STR. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

4. Historical Information • James Watson and Francis Crick—1953 discovered the configuration of the DNA molecule • Ray White—1980 describes first polymorphic RFLP marker • Alec Jeffreys—1985 isolated DNA markers and called them DNA fingerprints • Kary Mullis—1985 developed PCR testing • 1988—FBI starts DNA casework • 1991—first STR paper • 1998—FBI launches CODIS database Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

5. People of Historical Significance James Watson, Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins jointly received the Nobel Prize in 1962 for their determination of the structure of DNA. What is interesting about this fact is that Rosalind Franklin had as much to do with the discovery as the other three gentlemen with her work with X-ray crystallography. She died of cancer and could not be honored for her work. Find out more at Chemical Achievers: www.chemheritage.org/EducationalServices/chemach/ppb/cwwf.html Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

6. Case Study: O.J. Simpson: A mountain of evidence “If the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit” Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

7. A Mountain of Evidence • At the crime scene there were five blood drops leading away from the slain bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. • They were found to the left of size 12 footprints (Simpsons shoe size). This indicates that the killer had to be wounded on the left side. The day following the murder Simpson had a deep wound on his left middle finger. • Using PCR and RLFP DNA testing, all five blood drops belonged to OJ Simpson. Statistically speaking, only 1 out of 57 billion people could have the same genetic markers as the blood found at the scene. Simpson was one of them. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

8. Group Slideshow Presentation • Assignment: • As a group create a google slides presentation that can be used as a DNA study guide. • Main topics include: • What is DNA? Biological aspects of DNA •  the structure of DNA •  chromosomes, genes, base pairs • What are the main forensic uses of DNA? • What does RFLP stand for? Discuss its use in DNA fingerprinting. • Identify PCR, cite why PCR is used and how it relates to DNA profiling • STR: What does it stand for? How does STR differ from RFLP? Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

9. General DNA Information • Double helix—two coiled DNA strands • Composed of nucleotides—units containing a sugar molecule (deoxyribose), phosphate group and a nitrogen-containing base • In humans, the order of these bases is 99.9% the same. • Four bases • Adenine • Cytosine • Guanine • Thymine • Bases always pair A to T and G to C Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

10. Where Is DNA Found? • Genes are portions of DNA that code for specific proteins • DNA is found in all nucleated body cells—white blood cells, semen, saliva, urine, hair root, teeth, bone, tissue • Most abundant in buccal (cheek) cells • Red blood cells have no nuclei; and therefore, no nuclear DNA • DNA obtained from blood comes from white blood cells Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

11. DNA Typing DNA typing is a method in which DNA is converted into a series of bands that ultimately distinguish each individual. Only one-tenth of a single percent of DNA (about 3 million bases) differs from one person to the next. Scientists use these regions to generate a DNA profile of an individual. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

12. Non-Coding Regions • 3 percent of the human DNA sequences code for proteins • 97 percent is non-coding and is repetitive; repeating the same sequence over and over • 50 percent of the human genome has interspersed repetitive sequences Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

13. Uses of DNA Profiling • To identify potential suspects • To exonerate individuals • To identify crime and casualty victims • To establish paternity • To match organ donors Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

14. DNA TYPING“Fingerprinting” • RFLP—Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism • PCR—Polymerase Chain Reaction • STR—Short Tandem Repeats Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

15. RFLP—Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms Restriction enzymes are used to cut DNA into smaller fragments that can then be separated and characterized for identification • Isolate—separate DNA from the cell • Cut—using restriction enzymes to make shorter base strands • Sort—by size using electrophoresis • Analyze—the specific alleles for identification Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

16. PCR—PolymeraseChain Reaction PCR is a technique used for making copies of a defined segment of a DNA molecule. This can be valuable when the amount of evidence is minimal. Millions of copies of DNA can be made from a single speck of blood. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

17. PCR—Polymerase Chain Reaction Procedure • Heat the DNA strands, causing the strands to separate (unzip). • Cool the mixture and add a primer, a short sequence of base pairs that will add to its complementary sequence on the DNA strand. • Finally, add a DNA polymerase and a mixture of free nucleotides to the separated strands. Heat again to around 75°C for the completion. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

18. PCR—PolymeraseChain Reaction The outcome is a doubling of the number of DNA strands. Heating, cooling, and strand rebuilding is repeated typically 25 to 30 times, yielding more than one million copies of the original DNA molecule. Each cycle takes less than two minutes from start to finish. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

19. Advantages of PCR • Minute amounts of DNA may be used for amplification. • DNA degraded to fragments only a few hundred base pairs in length can serve as effective templates for amplification. • Large numbers of copies of specific DNA sequences can be amplified simultaneously with multiplex PCR reactions. • Commercial kits are now available for easy PCR reaction setup and amplification. Contaminant DNA, such as fungal and bacterial sources, will not amplify because human-specific primers are used. However, human contamination can be a problem. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

20. Electrophoresis • A technique used to separate DNA fragments. • An electrical current is moved through a gel substance causing molecules to sort by size. • The smaller, lighter molecules will move the furthest on the gel. • After developing, the fragments can be visualized for characterization. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

21. Electrophoresis Pipette the DNA. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

22. Electrophoresis Load DNA into the gel wells. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

23. 1. Securely tape the ends of the tray closed. 2. Put the comb in. For DNA, put on black line. For dye, put on red line. 3. Pour agarose into tray up to the line on the comb. 4. Let cool. 5. Untape the tray. 6. Put tray into the electrophoresis box. 7. Add Running Buffer until gel is completely covered. 8. Carefully wiggle out comb. 9. Put cover on. 10. Check for bubbles. Preparing an Electrophoresis Box

24. Electrophoresis • Run the gel. • Observe and compare bands of DNA. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

25. Procedure for Staining the Gel • Remove gel from plastic bags. • Using the Carolina Blue dye, slowly pour dye into the tray. Fully cover the gel. • Let stand for 20 minutes. • Then slowly pour dye back into beakers and recover it. (Make sure not to let the gel slide off the tray!!!) • Rinse the gel by pouring distilled water over top. Cover the gel with the deionized water. • Wait 8 minutes, pour out the distilled water from the tray, repeat. • At the end of the period, place gel back in plastic bags. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

26. Gel Electrophoresis Lab Write-Up The lab write-up will contain 8 main components: • Purpose of Electrophoresis: paragraph discussing its main uses in forensic science and how we used it in class. (4pts) • Procedure creating the gel and running dyes. (4pts) • Labeled photograph of completed dye gel. (2pts) • Procedure for running DNA. (4pts) • Procedure for staining the gel (2pts) • Labeled photograph of stained DNA Gel. (2pts) • Sources of error: where throughout the process can you run into error? Identify the main sources of error within your own experiment. (4pts) • Results of DNA profile: Who killed the victim? (2pts) Total Lab Points…………………………………………………24pts

27. Short Tandem Repeats (STR) STR is another method of DNA typing. STR’s are locations (loci) on the chromosome that contain short sequences of 2 to 5 bases that repeat themselves in the DNA molecule. The advantages of this method are that it provides greater discrimination, requires less time, a smaller sample size, and the DNA is less susceptible to degradation. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

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29. Short Tandem Repeats (STR) Procedure • Extract the gene TH01 from the sample. (TH01 has seven human variants with a repeating sequence of A-A-T-G) • Amplify the sample by means of PCR • Separate by electrophoresis • Examine the distance the STR migrates to determine the number of times TH01 repeats Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

30. Short Tandem Repeats (STR) • Each person has two STR types for TH01—one inherited from each parent. • By continuing the process with additional STRs from other genes, you can narrow down the probability of DNA belonging to only one person. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

31. Short Tandem Repeats (STR) • STR typing is visualized by peaks shown on a graph. Each represents the size of the DNA fragment. • The possible alleles are numbered for each loci. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

32. Profiler Plus Allelic Ladders VWA D3S1358 FGA AMEL D8S1179 D21S11 D18S51 D13S317 D5S818 D7S820

33. COfiler Allelic Ladders D3S1358 D16S539 AMEL TH01 TPOX CSF1PO D7S820

34. STR Example

36. Determining Probability Databases have been established that determine how often a particular allele on a loci appears in a given population. By increasing the number of alleles on different loci the probability of having two people with the exact combination becomes miniscule. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

37. DNA Interactive The website below has a STR animation demonstration. Click on human identification, profiling and then on the third circle called Today’s DNA Profiling to see the demonstration. http://www.dnai.org/d/index.html Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

38. Three Possible Outcomes • Match—The DNA profile appears the same. Lab will determine the frequency. • Exclusion—The genotype comparison shows profile differences that can only be explained by the two samples originating from different sources. • Inconclusive—The data does not support a conclusion as to whether the profiles match. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

39. Nuclear found in the nucleus constitutes 23 pairs of chromosomes inherited from both parents each cell contains only one nuclei Mitochondrial found in the cytoplasm is inherited only from mother each cell contains hundreds to thousands of mitochondria can be found in skeletal remains Types of DNA Nuclear DNA is present in the head of the sperm. Mitochondrial DNA is present in the tail. At conception, the head of the sperm enters the egg and unites with the nucleus. The tail falls off, losing the father’s mitochondrial DNA. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

40. Mitochondrial DNA • Analysis of mDNA is more: • rigorous • time consuming • costly than nucleic testing of DNA • mDNA is constructed in a circular or loop • 37 genes are involved in mitochondrial energy generation • Is used when nuclear DNA typing is not possible Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

41. FBI’s CODIS DNA Database Combined DNA Index System • Used for linking serial crimes and unsolved cases with repeat offenders • Launched October 1998 • Links all 50 states • Requires >4 RFLP markers and/or 13 core STR markers Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

42. The Future • Greater automation of the DNA typing process • Use of SNP’s—single nucleotide polymorphism which measures a one nucleotide change or difference from one individual to another. More sites are needed to differentiate between individuals (30 to 50 SNPs to attain the frequencies of the 13 STR loci), but it can be done with robots and automation. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

43. People in the News Sir Alec Jeffreys is credited with DNA profiling using RFLP. In September of 1984 after years of work, he saw his first series of blots on an X-ray. The technique was first used in forensics, when in 1985 he was asked by police to confirm the rape confession of 17 year old Richard Buckland, who was denying a rape of another young woman. The DNA from Buckland and the DNA taken from the victims eliminated him as a suspect. Jefferys then used samples from other suspects to later convict Colin Pitchfork whose DNA did match. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

44. More about DNA For additional information about DNA and some famous cases, check out Court TV’s Crime Library at: www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/forensics/dna/1.html Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company