Xref: utzoo sci.med:6226 sci.bio:1332 sci.misc:2006 misc.legal:5184 Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!ames!umd5!ncifcrf!toms From: toms@ncifcrf.gov (Tom Schneider) Newsgroups: sci.med,sci.bio,sci.misc,misc.legal Subject: Re: DNA "finger printing" Keywords: Need References, Scientific, Legal, or otherwise Message-ID: <523@fcs280s.ncifcrf.gov> Date: 13 Jul 88 16:30:23 GMT References: <1605@uop.edu> Reply-To: toms@ncifcrf.gov (Tom Schneider) Organization: NCI Supercomputer Center, Frederick, MD Lines: 28 I think that the initial reference is: @article{Scharf1986, author = "S. J. Scharf and G. T. Horn and H. A. Erlich", title = "Direct Cloning and Sequence Analysis of Enzymatically Amplified Genomic Sequences", journal = "Science", volume = "233", pages = "1078-1076", year = "1986"} You can find all references to that using Science Citation Index in your local library. That should keep you busy! The latest advance is that one can do the amplification using the DNA from single hairs. The limit of the technique is a single DNA molecule, and the luck that it isn't broken. The accuracy is as detailed as desired, since one could in theory sequence large chunks of a persons DNA. So, since each person (other than twins) is essentially unique, a single hair may be enough to identify anybody on the planet. The probability that one is wrong will depend on how much work someone is willing to do. Tom Schneider National Cancer Institute Laboratory of Mathematical Biology Frederick, Maryland toms@ncifcrf.gov