How is DNA technology used in forensics?

• A. Editing the genome of suspects
• B. Analyzing protein sequences
• C. DNA profiling to identify individuals via unique STR patterns
• D. Cloning victims

Answer: (C)

DNA profiling in forensics relies on analyzing patterns of short tandem repeats at multiple locations in the genome. These STRs differ in length among individuals, giving each person a unique combination across several loci (except identical twins). By extracting DNA from a crime scene and a reference sample, scientists amplify these STR regions and determine their sizes to build a DNA profile. The chance that two unrelated people share the same pattern across many STR loci is extremely small, so a match provides strong evidence that the samples come from the same person. This method is routinely used to identify suspects, link them to a scene, or exclude others, and it underpins much of modern forensic evidence. The other ideas don’t fit: genome editing would modify DNA rather than identify it; analyzing protein sequences isn’t the standard approach for identifying individuals in forensic contexts; cloning victims isn’t relevant to forensic identification.