DNA fingerprinting | Method of isolating and visualizing of sequences of DNA developed in 1984 by Alec Jeffreys. He noticed the existence of minisatellites that do not contribute to the function of a gene but are repeated within the gene and in other genes of a DNA sample. Jeffreys also determined that each organism has a unique pattern of these minisatellites, the only exception being multiple individuals from a single zygote. This unique pattern of DNA fragments is revealed by Southern hybridization or by the polymerase chain reaction. |