Student Exploration: DNA Profiling

Please sign into our ExploreLearning class and complete this worksheet while you are doing the Gizmo. Please type your answers in the brackets ([ ]) after each question and submit this worksheet in Google Classroom. Vocabulary: DNA polymerase, DNA profiling, gel electrophoresis, gene, mutation, non-coding region, polymerase chain reaction, primer, short tandem repeat Gizmo Warm-up DNA profiling does not just compare people’s entire genome side by side. Instead, a very particular part of the DNA is compared. In the DNA Profiling Gizmo you will learn about the differences in DNA that make DNA profiling possible and you will use that knowledge to design your own DNA profiling test. Click on the crime lab in the Forensic training section. You are looking at a strand of DNA at the top of the screen. DNA contains genes and non-coding regions between genes. Click on Non-coding A. 1. You are looking at a portion of the non-coding A section for three different people. Are these sections the same or different? [The three individual strands are the same up until the 14th code.] Explain. [Person number 2 only has 2 STRs while person number 1 has 4 and person number 3 has 3, making the sections different.] (you may want to click on “Show STR”) 2. Click Previous then click on Gene A. Are there differences in gene A for the three people? [yes] Why do you think the coding Gena A are different or all the same for the 3 people? [ I think they are different because person 2’s sequence of nucleotides has a mutation. Since they are all coding for the same gene the sequence should be identical, unless there is a mutation, which is found in person 2.] Activity A: Forensic training Get the Gizmo ready: ● Click on Forensic training and Start again. Read this → Introduction: In this activity, you will learn about the principles and techniques that make DNA profiling possible. Genes code for specific traits. In people, the DNA sequences