Some Different Methods of DNA Testing
DNA is used to determine Paternity Tests and ’cold cases’, but DNA mapping or testing is also a powerful weapon that is used in rape cases and where the culprit can be identified for a court to deliver its verdict of justice in favor of the victim.
The methods used by the laboratories for these tests are either the RFLP or STR techniques. There are however certain cases where multiple individuals would have been involved in the gruesome act of raping one victim.
In such complex cases, in order to pinpoint each individual, the process of DNA testing that is applied is called Y-marker analysis. The process involves examining several genetic markers found on the Y chromosome. This chromosome is passed on by a father to the son. Therefore DNA done on the Y chromosome would distinguish every male and do so different from others.
Not only in such gruesome acts and its identification is this procedure of DNA analysis used, it is also used in cases where the family of an individual needs to be traced or found out.
There are also situations where the biological evidence present is not compatible for conducting the RFLP and STR tests dues to their aging, like in case of old remains or evidence that lacks in nucleated cells. For such cases the process called Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis is conducted. Cases of old or better termed “cold murders” or suspicious death cases are best investigated using this process. The DNA from the mitochondria of the cell is used in this process from which the name of the procedure has been derived.
There is also a recent development in DNA testing called Single Nucleotide Polymorphism analysis. This technique is also applied in instances where the evidence has turned old to quite a relative extent. This method had been used to identify several victims of the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center.
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