VPB 321: Animal Biotechnology (2+1)

RESTRICTION FRAGMENT LENGTH POLYMORPHISM (RFLP)

• Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analyzes the length of the strands of the DNA molecules with repeating base pair patterns.
• While about 5% of DNA contains the genes, the other 95% is considered as non-coding genes (junk DNA) but contains identifiable repetitive sequences of base pairs, which are called Variable Number Tandem Repeats (VNTR).
• To extract a DNA fingerprint, a Southern blot is performed and the DNA is analyzed via a radioactive probe.
• The restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis is used to detect the repeated sequences by determining a specific pattern to the VNTR, which becomes the person's DNA fingerprint.
• The drawback with this system is that it requires a considerable amount of DNA in order to be used.