Mr. I. M. Megabucks, the wealthiest man in the world, recently died. Since his death, three women have come forward. Each woman claims to have a child by Megabucks and demands a substantial share of his estate for her child. Lawyers for the estate have insisted on DNA typing of each of the alleged heirs. Fortunately, Megabucks anticipated trouble like this before he died, and he arranged to have a sample of his blood frozen for DNA typing. The results of the typing are shown in the figure below. Your job is to analyze the data and determine whether any of the children could be Megabucks' heir. Remember that every person has two of each chromosome, one inherited from his mother and one inherited from his father. Half of every person's DNA comes from his mother, and half comes from his father, so some of the DNA bands showing in the children will come from their mothers, and the rest will come from their fathers. The question is, could that father be Megabucks?  For the first child, identify the bands in the DNA profile that came from the mother. (Remember that not all of the mother's DNA is transmitted to the child; just one of each pair of chromosomes is transmitted.) Mark the bands that came from the mother with an M. Circle the remaining bands.  Compare the remaining bands with the DNA profile from Megabucks. If he is the father, then all of the circled bands in the child's profile should have a corresponding band in his profile. Use a straight edge to help you line up the bands accurately. (Remember that only half of the father's chromosomes are transmitted to a child, so not every band from the father would match the child's profile.) Repeat the analysis for the other alleged heirs. Could any of them be Megabucks' children?

Human Anatomy & Physiology (11th Edition)
11th Edition
ISBN:9780134580999
Author:Elaine N. Marieb, Katja N. Hoehn
Publisher:Elaine N. Marieb, Katja N. Hoehn
Chapter1: The Human Body: An Orientation
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 1RQ: The correct sequence of levels forming the structural hierarchy is A. (a) organ, organ system,...
icon
Related questions
Question

Mr. I. M. Megabucks, the wealthiest man in the world, recently died. Since his death, three women have come forward. Each woman claims to have a child by Megabucks and demands a substantial share of his estate for her child. Lawyers for the estate have insisted on DNA typing of each of the alleged heirs. Fortunately, Megabucks anticipated trouble like this before he died, and he arranged to have a sample of his blood frozen for DNA typing. The results of the typing are shown in the figure below. Your job is to analyze the data and determine whether any of the children could be Megabucks' heir. Remember that every person has two of each chromosome, one inherited from his mother and one inherited from his father. Half of every person's DNA comes from his mother, and half comes from his father, so some of the DNA bands showing in the children will come from their mothers, and the rest will come from their fathers. The question is, could that father be Megabucks

  1. For the first child, identify the bands in the DNA profile that came from the mother. (Remember that not all of the mother's DNA is transmitted to the child; just one of each pair of chromosomes is transmitted.) Mark the bands that came from the mother with an M. Circle the remaining bands. 
  2. Compare the remaining bands with the DNA profile from Megabucks. If he is the father, then all of the circled bands in the child's profile should have a corresponding band in his profile. Use a straight edge to help you line up the bands accurately. (Remember that only half of the father's chromosomes are transmitted to a child, so not every band from the father would match the child's profile.)
  3. Repeat the analysis for the other alleged heirs.
  4. Could any of them be Megabucks' children?
Fragment Megabucks
size, bp
X's child
Y
Y's child
Z's child
400
400
300
300
200
200
100
100
50
50
N
Transcribed Image Text:Fragment Megabucks size, bp X's child Y Y's child Z's child 400 400 300 300 200 200 100 100 50 50 N
Expert Solution
trending now

Trending now

This is a popular solution!

steps

Step by step

Solved in 2 steps

Blurred answer
Knowledge Booster
Genomic studies
Learn more about
Need a deep-dive on the concept behind this application? Look no further. Learn more about this topic, biology and related others by exploring similar questions and additional content below.
Recommended textbooks for you
Human Anatomy & Physiology (11th Edition)
Human Anatomy & Physiology (11th Edition)
Biology
ISBN:
9780134580999
Author:
Elaine N. Marieb, Katja N. Hoehn
Publisher:
PEARSON
Biology 2e
Biology 2e
Biology
ISBN:
9781947172517
Author:
Matthew Douglas, Jung Choi, Mary Ann Clark
Publisher:
OpenStax
Anatomy & Physiology
Anatomy & Physiology
Biology
ISBN:
9781259398629
Author:
McKinley, Michael P., O'loughlin, Valerie Dean, Bidle, Theresa Stouter
Publisher:
Mcgraw Hill Education,
Molecular Biology of the Cell (Sixth Edition)
Molecular Biology of the Cell (Sixth Edition)
Biology
ISBN:
9780815344322
Author:
Bruce Alberts, Alexander D. Johnson, Julian Lewis, David Morgan, Martin Raff, Keith Roberts, Peter Walter
Publisher:
W. W. Norton & Company
Laboratory Manual For Human Anatomy & Physiology
Laboratory Manual For Human Anatomy & Physiology
Biology
ISBN:
9781260159363
Author:
Martin, Terry R., Prentice-craver, Cynthia
Publisher:
McGraw-Hill Publishing Co.
Inquiry Into Life (16th Edition)
Inquiry Into Life (16th Edition)
Biology
ISBN:
9781260231700
Author:
Sylvia S. Mader, Michael Windelspecht
Publisher:
McGraw Hill Education