Biodiversity
Brain
Genetics
Marine BiOLogy
MicrobiOLogy
PaleontOLogy
ZoOLogy
AnthropOLogy
ArchaeOLogy
Astronomy
Climate Change
Earth
Physics
Water
Hi, my name is George Amato . I'm a conservation geneticist at the American Museum of Natural History. I use genetics to help protect endangered species. When the need arises, we use our facility as a forensics lab to investigate crime scene evidence. Here's one such CSI case...
-
Shoes and handbags made from reptile skins are seized at the airport.
-
Could they be made from the skins of a threatened crocodile species?
-
To find out, we turned our genetics lab into a forensics lab.
-
If we identify the DNA sequence, we can identify the animal species!
-
We locate an area to take a skin cell sample. We only need a little bit.
-
We then extract DNA from the skin cells.
-
We use a chemical reaction to amplify, or copy, the DNA.
-
This DNA sequencer machine reads a small DNA section called the barcode.
-
We find a match for the barcode in a database. It's an endangered species!
These images have been brought to you by Science Explorations, a partnership between Scholastic and the American Museum of Natural History.