in gel electrophoresis maternity and paternity testing why i

in gel electrophoresis maternity and paternity testing. why is it so important to test the offspring. discuss banding pattern and what you woyld expect to see for related and unrelated individuals

Solution

Gel electrophoresis is a method commonly used to seperate dna and rna according to their sizes. The dna samples are loaded on to the gel and electric current is applied. As dna is negatively charged , it moves towards the positive electrode in the gel.

The shorter segment travels larger distance whereas the larger ones remain behind.and due to this bands are formed of dna which can be seen in flouroscent light.

This technique is usually applied these days to solve patriarchal issues. The dna samples of father , mother and offspring are collected and electrophoresis is conducted.

So if the banding pattern of child matches with an father and mother, that child has their dna, as dna is inherited. So its important to test the offspring also.

Related individuals will have quite similarities in their banding pattern aa they might belong to same hierarchical tree wheras the non related ones will have dis similar banding patterns due to different dna