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Hypervariable ‘minisatellite’ regions in human DNA

Nature volume 314, pages 67–73 (1985)Cite this article

Abstract

The human genome contains many dispersed tandem-repetitive ‘minisatellite’ regions detected via a shared 10–15-base pair ‘core’ sequence similar to the generalized recombination signal (χ) of Escherichia coli. Many minisatellites are highly polymorphic due to allelic variation in repeat copy number in the minisatellite. A probe based on a tandem-repeat of the core sequence can detect many highly variable loci simultaneously and can provide an individual-specific DNA ‘fingerprint’ of general use in human genetic analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK

    Alec J. Jeffreys & Victoria Wilson

  2. MRC Molecular Haematology Unit, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK

    Swee Lay Thein

Authors
  1. Alec J. Jeffreys
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  2. Victoria Wilson
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  3. Swee Lay Thein
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Jeffreys, A., Wilson, V. & Thein, S. Hypervariable ‘minisatellite’ regions in human DNA. Nature 314, 67–73 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1038/314067a0

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