Question

Gel electrophoresis is a technique used by molecular biologists to analyze samples of DNA or proteins. DNA was collected from the scene of a crime. Gel electrophoresis was used to compare the crime scene DNA to the victim’s DNA along with the two suspects of the crime.

Figure 1 shows the gel sheet after each sample was run. Table 1 shows the distance each band traveled from the origin. The samples were run in the same gel with a DNA standard marker for comparison. Table 2 shows the results of the standard.

Figure 1. Created for Albert. All rights reserved.
Table 1
Standard (
mm
) Crime Scene (
mm
) Suspect 1 (
mm
) Suspect 2 (
mm
) Victim (
mm
)
18
29
26
29
8
23
33
29
33
18
28
34
30
34
25
34
35
32
35
30
45
47
36
47
32
47
48
48
34
Table 2
Distance (
mm
) Size of Fragment in Base Pairs (
bp
)
18
23109
23
9416
28
6557
34
4361
45
2328
47
2027
Suppose that the DNA at the crime scene had markers at
8
mm
,
18
mm
,
25
mm
,
30
mm
,
32
mm
, and
34
mm
from the origin instead of their positions at
29
mm
,
33
mm
,
34
mm
,
35
mm
,
47
mm
, and
48
mm
.
Would this support or weaken the theory that Suspect 2 was at the crime scene?

Select one answer
A
Support, because that would mean that the DNA at the crime scene matched that of both Suspect 1 and Suspect 2.
B
Support, because that would mean that the DNA at the crime scene matched that of Suspect 2 instead of the victim's.
C
Weaken, because that would mean that the DNA at the crime scene matched that of the victim instead of Suspect 2's DNA.
D
Weaken, because that would mean that the DNA at the crime scene does not match that of the DNA standard.

Answer 1

[AI-generated answer — Bot GPT 3.5]

C

Weaken, because that would mean that the DNA at the crime scene matched that of the victim instead of Suspect 2's DNA.