Chapter 10 Vocab Flashcards
A genetic locus useful for determining sex
Amelogenin gene
The building blocks of proteins
Amino acids
Cells from the inner cheek lining
Buccal cells
A threadlike structure in the cell nucleus composed of DNA, along which the genes are located
Chromosome
The specific pairing of base A with T and base C with G in a double-stranded DNA
Complementary base pairing
The molecules carrying the body’s genetic information; is double stranded in the shape of a double helix
Deoxyribonucleic acid DNA
Technique used for separating and identifying complex biochemical mixtures; in forensic science, it is most useful for characterizing proteins and DNA in dried blood
Electrophoresis
The outer layer of skin cells
Epithelial cells
The order of bases on all 23 pairs of human chromosomes
Human genome
Is the process in which two complementary single-stranded DNA and/or RNA molecules bond together to form a double-stranded molecule
Hybridization
Fewer than 18 DNA-bearing cells
Low copy number
Small structures outside the nucleus that supply energy to the cell
Mitochondria
A technique that simultaneously detects more than one DNA marker in a single analysis
Multiplexing
A repeating unit of DNA consisting of one of four bases- adenine, guanine, cytosine, or thymine- attached to a phosphate-sugar group
Nucleotide
One-trillionth of a gram, or 0.000000000001 gram
Picogram
A substance composed of large number of atoms; these atoms are usually in repeating units, or monometers
Polymers
A technique used for replicating or copying a portion of a DNA strand outside of a living cell
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
A short strand of DNA used to target a region of DNA for replication by PCR
Primer
Polymers of amino acids that play basic roles in the structure and function of living things
Proteins
The synthesis of new DNA from existing DNA
Replication
A protein isolated from bacteria that cleaves DNA sequences at sequence-specific sites, producing DNA fragments with a known sequence at each end
Restriction enzymes
Different fragment lengths of base pairs that result from cutting a DNA molecule with restriction enzymes
Restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs)
A procedure used to determine the order of the base pairs that constitute DNA
Sequencing
A region of a DNA molecule that contains short segments of three to seven repeating base pairs
Short tandem repeats (STR)
An unstained object adjacent to an area on which biological material has been deposited
Substrate control
Region of a chromosome that contains multiple copies of a core DNA sequence arranged in a repeating fashion
Tandem repeat
DNA from skin cells transferred onto the surface of an object by simple contact
Touch DNA
Short tandem repeats located on the human Y chromosome
Y-STRs
