BIO262 : Genetics

Gel Electrophoresis

For my term project in Bio 262, I followed the phenotype of the Peach-Eye Mutation through three generations of Drosophila Melanogaster. The purpose was to determine the Chromosome on which the Peach-Eye mutation arises. In the end, because of correlations of the Peach-Eye phenotype with gender of the flies, I determined that the only viable model was that of sex linkage. The Peach-Eye mutation is located on the X chromosome.

For my final project in Bio 262, I did a Gel Electrophoresis. Basically, we put DNA in a gel. Put an electric field across the gel. Then see the migration pattern of the DNA. We can compare migration patterns from samples from different people. In this case we want to do a paternity test. Although technically we can't establish paternity with a test like this, just genetic overlap (they could be siblings). As can be seen from the picture, the 2 migration patterns are virtually identical. The 2 people do belong to the same nuclear family.