A paleontologist has recovered a bit of tissue from the 400-year-old preserved skin of an extinct dodo bird. The researcher would like to compare a specific region of the DNA from the sample with DNA from living birds. Which of the following would be most useful for increasing the amount of dod DNA available for testing?

a) RFLP analysis

b) electroporation

c) polymerase chain reaction (PCR)

d) gel electrophoresis

e) Southern blotting

Question

Regan

Biology

18 August, 18:46

A paleontologist has recovered a bit of tissue from the 400-year-old preserved skin of an extinct dodo bird. The researcher would like to compare a specific region of the DNA from the sample with DNA from living birds. Which of the following would be most useful for increasing the amount of dod DNA available for testing?

a) RFLP analysis

b) electroporation

c) polymerase chain reaction (PCR)

d) gel electrophoresis

e) Southern blotting

+5

Answers (1)

Know the Answer?

Sidney Stone · Answer 1

c) polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Explanation:

Because the paleontologist recovered only a bit of tissue and it is very old, it is very likely that the DNA in the sample is very small and part of it is degraded. Anyway, the paleontologist must first amplify the DNA sample to obtain many identical copies of the specific region of the DNA they want to compare. the above is done through a polymerase chain reaction (PCR).