Searching For Eve; Tracing Our Ancestry From Our Mitochondrial DNA

A) Although each cell's nucleus is generally known as the storage facility DNA, the mitochondria also contains several copies of its own genome. Inside the Nucleus is the organisms very own unique DNA (taken from the egg of the mother and the sperm from the father and created to make an entirely new sequence); however, mitochondrial DNA is taken directly from one's mother (is an exact replica of one's mother's mitochondrial DNA). The difference between these two also include: Nuclear DNA has 46 chromosomes, mitochondrial DNA has only 37 genes, and the mitochondrial DNA contains only 16,569 nucleotides. Genetic tests are done using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), a process which takes small DNA sequences, uses a DNA polymerase, a primer, and nucleotides to accomplish its goal. The PCR amplifies a gene (a 440 nucleotide sequence), each from the same part of the mitochondrial DNA genome, thus, making it possible to compare each and every mitochondrial sequence allowing us to determine our relatedness, and in some cases, how long ago we shared a common ancestor.

B) The purpose of this experiment is to amplify a piece of our mitochondrial genomes for easy comparison with other students in the class. This will enable us to determine how related we are to each other, and allow us to figure out how long ago we shared a common relative.

C) To complete this experiment, our lab table will need to complete a number of tasks correctly. We will need to extract our DNA through cheek cell extrcation, which requires saline mouthwash for extraction. Upon extracting the cheek cells, they will need to be broken open which we will utilize a lysis buffer for. After breaking open the cells instagene matrix will be added to kill DNASE. Next we will utilize PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) to amplify the desired sequence of DNA. After PCR, we will use Gel electrophoresis. The Gel electrophoresis will allow us to determine how closely related we are to each other, and to hopefully see how we are related to Eve.

D) The objective of this experiment is to isolate our mitochondrial DNA, and to discover how closely related we are to each other and how long ago we shared our last common relative.