Arrange the following steps of DNA fingerprinting in proper sequence:…

The correct answer is Option (2) → (E), (C), (B), (D), (A)

(E) Isolation of DNA — first. The DNA is taken out of the sample, such as blood, hair or skin cells. Nothing can be cut or tested before the DNA is in hand.

(C) Digestion of DNA by restriction endonucleases — second. The long DNA is cut into fragments at specific sites. The VNTR regions end up in fragments of different lengths in different people.

(B) Separation of DNA fragments by electrophoresis — third. The fragments are sorted by size in agarose gel, the smaller ones moving farther.

(D) Blotting of separated DNA fragments to nylon — fourth. The sorted fragments are moved from the gel onto a nylon membrane, where they keep the same positions and can be probed.

(A) Hybridisation using labelled VNTR probe — fifth. The labelled probe binds only the matching VNTR fragments on the membrane. These bands are then seen by autoradiography.

Note: A similar question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2026 on 07-06-2026 (Slot 2).

NCERT Extract:
DNA Fingerprinting – “… The technique of DNA Fingerprinting was initially developed by Alec Jeffreys. He used a satellite DNA as probe that shows very high degree of polymorphism. It was called as Variable Number of Tandem Repeats (VNTR). The technique, as used earlier, involved Southern blot hybridisation using radiolabelled VNTR as a probe. It included
(i) isolation of DNA,
(ii) digestion of DNA by restriction endonucleases,
(iii) separation of DNA fragments by electrophoresis,
(iv) transferring (blotting) of separated DNA fragments to synthetic membranes, such as nitrocellulose or nylon,
(v) hybridisation using labelled VNTR probe, and
(vi) detection of hybridised DNA fragments by autoradiography.”