Comparing The Primer To The Species Specific Primers

In order to “stack” the DNA together, scientists use what is known as a primer. The primer’s basic function is to gather like strands of DNA together, stacking them, making it easier to see the DNA sequence or amplify the sequence. In the early days of DNA testing, primers had to be designed for individual species and even subspecies within a family of organisms. For example, primers were developed for humans, bears, dogs, cats, pigs, cattle, etc. If you were trying to identify unknown DNA you would use the primer for the individual species on the sample. If the primer found and stacked the DNA together (amplified the DNA), then you knew you had a certain species. If there was no amplification of the DNA, then you knew this was not a particular species. These primers still exist today, but as scientific advancements have been made in the field of DNA processing, machines were developed that could process …show more content…
Similar to the species-specific primers, if you use a mammal primer and the DNA does not amplify, then the DNA sample being tested is not from a mammal.

An important aspect of DNA testing is the affect quantity, quality and purity have on the amplification of the result. Multiple copies of undamaged, intact, all from the same organism DNA, will amplify correctly when the primer is applied. This will give the scientist good clear DNA results.

On the other hand, if you have limited amounts of DNA that are contaminated, the results will not amplify well. To use the transparency analogy once more, now you have two transparencies, consisting of two different pictures. Some parts of the picture may be alike, while others are different. Thus, when the primers stack the DNA on top of each other, the picture is fuzzy, blurred and not easy to recognize. This how the scientist can determine for the results if there is