Question

Last month, Hudson National Bank was robbed by an unidentified man. The robber wore gloves, a hat, and a bandana that covered his face. A security guard attempting to stop the robber was knocked unconscious in a struggle. However, the guard managed to pull the hat from the robber's head. Witness accounts and security tapes led police to arrest three possible suspects. None of the suspects have alibis, but police are not certain which man is the robber. Using hair samples from the hat recovered by the security guard, the crime lab did a Southern Blot test. Hair samples were also taken from each suspect. Use the suspects' hair samples to determine the guilty party.

Use your special enzyme to cut each sequence at the forward-slash marks (/). (You can do this by putting spaces after each slash mark.)
Arrange the DNA cuttings in order from shortest to longest. Attach them to a special piece of nitrocellulose paper (construction paper).
Compare the probe base pair sequence with a DNA sample taken from Suspect A. Use a highlighter or different color font to mark any sequences that match the probe.
Repeat step 1 with the DNA samples for Suspects B and C.
Suspect A
TCCATCCA / TCCATCCATCCA / TCCA / GGCTTACCTATAAGG / TGGATGGATGGATGGATGGA

Suspect B
TCCATCCA / TCCATCCAATTG / TCCA / TCCATCCATCCATCCATCCA / TGGATGGATGGATGGA

Suspect C
TTAGCTA / CCGGTATGA / AGGT / CGTTATCGGATATA / GGTTAGGACCTATCGATAGA

Probe
AGGT

QUESTIONS

Which suspect most likely committed the robbery?
How do you know?

Answer 1

Answer:

by an unidentified man. The robber wore gloves, a hat, and a bandana that covered his face. A security guard attempting to stop the robber was knocked unconscious in a struggle. However, the guard managed to pull the hat from the robber's head. Witness accounts and security tapes led police to arrest three possible suspects. None of the suspects have alibis, but police are not certain which man is the robber. Using hair samples from the hat recovered by the security guard, the crime lab did a Southern Blot test. Hair samples were also taken from each suspect. Use the suspects' hair samples to determine the guilty party.