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Forensic investigators look for two different types of DNA in a strand of hair. Traditionally they look for nuclear DNA (nDNA) which comes from the nucleolus and you can get that if the strand of hair as the follicle intact and not too damaged. This is primary, but you can still get DNA from the hair shaft itself without the use of the follicle. This is Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), and though this type of DNA has less information than nuclear DNA, it is very stable and that's great for investigators or scientists because you can even extract that type of DNA from mummies that are many thousands of years old. So if you're wondering if you can be caught by the police if all they have is a piece of hair with no follicle, yes you can! The downside of using mtDNA versus nDNA is mitochondrial DNA is passed on from the mother, so if you pluck 3 pieces of hair, one from the mother, one from the brother, and the other from the sister, they will ALL be identical. So in this case it is no good at determining who is who. But if it's a random murder site where the suspect is being matched with a hair shaft, they are able to make a positive ID match that hair.

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15y ago
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6mo ago

Scientists can extract DNA from a strand of hair by first breaking down the cell membrane to release the DNA. This is typically done through a process called cell lysis. Once the DNA is released, it can be purified and extracted using techniques like polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for further analysis.

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Q: How do scientists get DNA from a strand of hair?
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Related questions

What is the strand?

The template strand, if reffering to DNA, is the strand of the DNA that is copied to make more DNA.


How accurate is DNA testing of hair?

Very accurate to the base pair. The quality of the specimen matters as DNA can degrade. Short strand sequences (10-12 base pairs) can still be determined by PCR from one strand of hair.


What strand of DNA would be prod from the template strand of DNA shown below?

The complementary strand of DNA to the template strand TACGGCTA would be ATGCCGAT.


How is anything genetically modified?

Scientists have the means to extract the DNA strand from a cell. Once the DNA strand is removed, it can be altered, then placed back into the cell. When the cell divides and multiplies - the new copies will retail the altered DNA rather than having the original.


What is the term for the DNA strand that acts as a pattern to the newly synthesized DNA?

The DNA strand that acts as a pattern for the newly synthesized DNA is called the template strand. It serves as a guide during DNA replication, where complementary nucleotides are added to create a new DNA strand.


What is the role of the DNA new strand?

It is a copy of the Dna original strand.


Given the following strand of dna what is the complementary strand actggctac?

The complementary DNA strand to ACTGGCTAC is TGACCGATG.


What is the largest molecule located on a DNA strand?

The Largest molecule located on a hair strand, Is a kenesis Archaei (Ke-Nee-Ses- Ar-Chay-Ai)


Can you use the word strand in a sentence?

The DNA strand contains the genetic information needed for cellular function.


What is a thin strand of hair called?

A thin strand of hair is called a hair filament or a hair strand.


What is the complementary DNA strand of CCTAGCT?

GGATCGA is comlementary to the DNA strand CCTAGCT.


During DNA replications a complementary strand of DNA is made for each original DNA strand thus if a portion of the original strand is CCTAGCT then the new strand will be?

GGATCGA. Each base in the original DNA strand pairs with its complementary base (A with T and C with G) in the new strand during DNA replication.