Determine which bands each baby girl inherited from its mother and from its father by marking the bands with either M (mother) or F (father).

Biology 103 Laboratory Exercise

–

DNA Profile # 1

A Mix-up at the Hospital

Introduction

On the same day at approximately the same time in Riverside General Hospital, Mrs.

Sanders, Mrs. Greene, and Mrs. Hall each deli

vered a healthy baby girl. Shortly after the

deliveries, a hospital fire alarm sounded. Al

ong with other patients, nurses rushed the

three new baby girls to safety. After the da

nger had passed and calm had been restored, a

new situation began to unfold. The hospital st

aff realized that in the confusion of the

evacuation, information for the three new ba

by girls had not been yet been cataloged.

Since the three new baby girls had been ru

shed from the hospital before receiving their

identification bracelets, there was no easy way

to identify them. DNA typing was ordered

for each of the baby girls, and additionally,

for each of the three sets of parents.

The DNA typing technicians isolated two diffe

rent highly variable chromosomal regions

for each individual tested. The DNA profiles are

shown below. For this lab exercise, your

task will be to determine which baby girl

belongs to which set of parents.

Materials Needed

Ruler

Pencil or pen

Procedure

1.

To assign a baby girl to a sp

ecific set of parents, ever

y band in the baby girl’s DNA

profile should match a band from either the

mother or the father. Not all of the bands

in the mother’s or father’s profile will

have a counterpart in the baby’s DNA profile.

Use a ruler to help you line up the bands.

2.

Determine which bands each baby girl inherited from its mother and from its father

by marking the bands with either

M (mother) or F (father).

3.

Identify the parents of each baby girl.