Identification of Forensic Samples via Mitochondrial DNA in the Undergraduate Biochemistry Laboratory

Julie T. Millard and André M. Pilon
Department of Chemistry, Colby College, Waterville, ME 04901
J. Chem. Educ., 2003, 80 (4), p 444
DOI: 10.1021/ed080p444
Publication Date (Web): April 1, 2003
History, Education, and Documentation

Abstract

A recent forensic approach for identification of unknown biological samplesis mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequencing. We describe a laboratory exercisesuitable for an undergraduate biochemistry course in which the polymerasechain reaction is used to amplify a 440 base pair hypervariable region ofhuman mtDNA from a variety of "crime scene" samples (e.g., teeth, hair,nails, cigarettes, envelope flaps, toothbrushes, and chewing gum). Amplificationis verified via agarose gel electrophoresis and then samples are subjectedto cycle sequencing. Sequence alignments are made via the program CLUSTALW, allowing students to compare samples and solve the "crime."

Keywords (Audience):

Second-Year Undergraduate

Keywords (Domain):

Biochemistry

Keywords (Pedagogy):

Collaborative / Cooperative Learning

Keywords (Subject):

Nucleic acids / DNA / RNA
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  • Received: August 03, 2009

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