BIO 123 Problem Solving Question

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Biology

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Jul 1, 2024

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BIO 123 Problem Solving Assignment: A robbery takes place at a bank. As the thief escapes the building, a security guard grabs one of the bank robber's gloves. The bank robber leaves the scene in a phone service van. The phone company identifies three employees who may have been near the bank at the time of the robbery. All employees deny robbing the bank. Can you think of some way, besides witness testimony, that the bank robber could be identified from among the three individuals? DNA evidence is more reliable than fingerprints at identifying people. DNA can identify people — even better than fingerprints. DNA is found in all of our cells: hair, teeth, bones, blood and skin. Though all humans share 99.9% of their genes, our DNA differs from everyone else's by three million nucleotide base pairs. Our DNA is organized in 23 chromosomes in the nucleus in each of our cells. Regions in each chromosome contain what are called "junk DNA," which does not contain genes. But often, this junk DNA contains repeating nucleotide base pair sequences that can be used for matching purposes. In this example, you can see chromosome locations where the FBI looks for repeating sequences of DNA. They're called CODIS sites, which stands for the FBI's Combined DNA Index System.
Figure 1. The 23 human chromosomes and 13 chromosomal locations at which the FBI looks for repeating DNA sequences. For this activity, note the TPOX region on chromosome 2. (X and Y count as one chromosome pair. The AMELs are not CODIS sites.) In our case, the police found a hair in the bank robber's glove. Remember that we have 23 pairs of chromosomes, each pair containing one chromosome from our father, the other from our mother. A DNA analysis shows that the hair in the robber's glove contains the following nucleotide base pair sequences in the TPOX region Figure 2. TPOX region of chromosome 2 of hair found in bank robber's glove. Note that the GAAT sequence is repeated twice in the father's side and three times in the mother's side (the sides of each chromosome are often not the same length). Equivalently, we could say that the CTTA sequence is repeated. Why is that? (G always pairs with C, and A always pairs with T). Problem Solving Qs:
1. Based on the information in the introduction, what problem are we trying to solve in this scenario? Use details to explain. 2. How does CODIS help to solve this problem? Use details to explain. Suspect CODIS Analysis Worksheet CODIS site: D21S11 Hair in glove evidence Suspect 3 Suspect 2 Suspect 1 G G A G A G T G T T C C C C C G A A A G G G A G G C G T T G G T G G A A T A A T T G T A A G A A T A G T T G G A G T G A A T G T A A A A T C A A T G A G T T G T G T G C A A A A A T 1. Which suspect’s DNA matches the DNA of the evidence hair at CODIS site D21S11? _____
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