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A Whale of a Tale�Using BLAST

Jayne Ricciardi and Beth Marass

Special guest appearance

Katie Lodes

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Scenarios

Scenario 1 involves the source of whale bones found in a graveyard focusing on the history of whaling
Scenario 2 focuses on a wildlife crime and forensics mystery with meat found at a restaurant
Scenario 3 involves an investigation into whether the whale bones at the American Museum of Natural History really belong to a blue whale

Mitochondrial DNA Webquest

Part I: What is Mitochondrial DNA?

Go to the National Institute of Health’s Genetics Home Reference Page on Mitochondrial DNA at: https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/mitochondrial-dna

Part II: Why do Mitochondria have DNA?

Go to the Genetic Science Learning Center’s Evolution of the Cell page at: http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/cells/organelles/

Part III: Why Do We Inherit Mitochondrial DNA only from our Mothers?

Go to the New York Times article titled “Why Do We Inherit Mitochondrial DNA only from our Mothers?” http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/24/science/mitochondrial-dna- mothers.html

Bioinformatics�Using Nucleotide BLAST