Detection of DNA polymorphisms by using α satellite probes: Application to the forensic identification

The satellite is a complex family of tandemly repeated DNA located at the centromeric regions of human chromosomes. Each chromosome contains some tandem copies of a higher — order repeat unit, comprised of tandem monomer units of 171 bP. It is also reported that the satellite DNA shows RFLPs based on site variations within and between monomer units (Waye 1987: Willard 1986, 1987).