What Is Archeology?

(PCR), which isolates small fragments of DNA that have a high degree of variability from

The DNA contains the information needed to make up our body and even our hands.

DNA is the genetic material that makes up the characteristics of all living organisms. While all human DNA is very similar in nature, there is just enough differences in

After the spike in DNA discoveries and confirmations that could be compared to the 1849 California gold rush, scientists began to try to find other uses for DNA. Since then, DNA has been used for many things such as finding criminals and confirming paternity/maternity. Also DNA has been used to track diseases and problems that start at the molecular level. Three of the newer advances in DNA technology are DNA Fingerprinting, Recombinant DNA (rDNA) and Paternity/Maternity Tests.

Every day DNA technology becomes more advanced and innovative, for example can match the smallest amounts of biological evidence to a criminal offender. Future DNA techniques will be applied to existing systems and testing methods that will become more automated and will be more effective and less time consuming. Instead of waiting months of DNA results the future will provide instantaneous means for DNA profile development.

Due to the uniqueness of DNA it has become a powerful tool in criminal investigations

(Dikmaat et al., 2008) The use of polymerase chain reaction DNA analysis was first implemented by Kary Mullin in 1985. (Dikmaat et al., 2008) DNA matching practically revolutionized the field by allowing for almost definitive identifications even though it can take some time to receive results. However, it also provided an incentive for change; since DNA could now provide accurate identifications, forensic anthropologist needed to offer more than identification based on biological categories if it wanted to remain relevant amongst medical forensics. (Dikmaat et al., 2008)

PCR can amplify relatively short stretches because the primers need to fi nd only one molecule that is unbroken over that short stretch. But fi nd- ing a whole unbroken chromosome, or even an unbroken megabase-size stretch of DNA, appears to be impossible. These considerations have generated considerable uncertainty about the few published examples of ampli- fying ancient DNA by PCR. Many scientists argue that it is simply not credible that a molecule as fragile as DNA can last for millions of years. They believe that dinosaur DNA would long ago have decomposed into nucleotides and be utterly useless as a template for PCR

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) has been used to analyze and prove innocence or guilt of suspects of crimes with great accuracy. DNA is part of everyday life. It is the heredity material in humans and almost all other organisms. While being part of an investigation. DNA has helped to solve crimes. There is a couple ways that DNA left behind can be tested to solve a crime. Either if the suspect has been caught and or had his or her DNA tested, or if he or she has left behind any biological evidence. Which then needs to be tested to see if it matches the DNA found in the crime scene to his or hers DNA. The result to this comparison may help establish if the suspect committed the crime.

What is DNA? Is it these winding strands that look like ladders or is it what gives a person blonde hair and blue eyes? Actually, DNA is both of these things. DNA is a person’s genetic makeup–their hereditary blueprint passed on by their parents. It is a part of almost every cell in the human body. In each cell, a person’s DNA is the same; it stays the same throughout their lifetime. DNA is found in skin tissue, sweat, bone, the root and shaft of hair, earwax, mucus, urine, semen, and vaginal or rectal cells. The DNA found in a person’s saliva is the same as the DNA found in their blood. Parts of the DNA determine our physical characteristics, such as eye and hair color, height, and bone structure, but the

Development in science field allowed us to achieve a lot of things. One of the most popular science field is genetics and knowledge in genetics has significantly increased, “Compared with the first sequencing effort in 1997, today’s state of the art involves the generation of more than 200 million times more data”, (Hawks, 2013). This remarkable development in science field has a huge impact on archaeological findings too, especially so in helping archaeologists understand human evolution. Although modern genetic research has allowed us to better fully understand human evolution, it has yet

It has provided archaeologists with information that is often difficult to procure through other means, for example migration patterns, clearer interpretations of burial sites and what sort diseases were infecting people of the Neolithic period. DNA analysis can offer much more ground-breaking insight into the Neolithic period than other archaeometry methods like lead, strontium and oxygen isotopic analysis. Ancient DNA analysis is not restricted to human remains. The analysis of ancient animal DNA can yield just as much information and has effectively be used to help provide explanations about how the Neolithic phenomenon spread across Europe by tracing genetic makers in domestic animal populations. While granted that obtaining ancient DNA from an ancient specimen is not without complications or the risk of damaging the specimen it has proved worth the risk in some cases.

The polymerase chain reaction or PCR for short can be used to create many copies of DNA. This allows the DNA to then be visualized using a dye like ethidium bromide after gel electrophoresis. The process has been refined over the years, however the basic steps are similar.

. DNA profiling was first introduced to the criminal justice field in the mid-1980’s (DNA Initiative). DNA profiling was first described in 1984 by Alec Jeffreys, a geneticist at the University of Leicester in Britain (Aronson, 7). Dr. Jeffreys found that the genes that have no function, called “junk DNA” is where most of the variation is used for DNA profiling (Aronson 9). This region contains DNA sequences that repeat over and over again. Alec Jeffreys determined that the number of repeated sections at different locations vary from individual to individual (DNA Initiative). Consequently these repetitive regions became known as “variable number of tandem repeats” or VNTR’s.

DNA is a term that has been used in science as well as in many parts of daily