By harishvasudevan

DNA FINGERPRINTING IN THE STANDARDIZATION OF HERBS AND NUTRACEUTICALS

(August 2004) Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the fundamental building component of all living cells. Our characteristics, traits and physical features are determined by the specific arrangement of DNA base-pair sequences in the cell. It is this distinct arrangement of adenine, guanine, thymine and cytosine (called DNA nucleotides) that regulates the production of specific proteins and enzymes via the Central Dogma Theory [1]. In a living system, this DNA arrangement is uniform throughout the organism, irrespective of the organ. If the DNA from the hair, organs or any body fluid such as blood, saliva or semen, of a particular organism were…