STR Markers, A short tandem repeat (STR or microsatellite) is a pattern of two or more nucleotides that are repeated directly adjacent to each other. By identifying repeats of a specific sequence at specific locations in the genome, it is possible to create agenetic profile of an individual. Short Tandem Repeat (STR) analysis is a common molecular biology method used to compare allele repeats at specific loci in DNA between two or more samples. STR analysis involves the extraction of nuclear DNA from cells in a sample. Certain regions of the DNA that are extracted are then amplified by the polymerase chain reaction. After amplification, a scientist performs gel electrophoresis to find out how many repeats of the STR sequence exist. The smaller size of STR alleles make STR markers better candidates for use in forensic applications, in which degraded DNA is common. Because of these characteristics, STRs with higher power of discrimination are chosen for human identification in forensic cases on a regular basis. It measures the "exact number of repeating units" and it is another way of analyzing a specific characteristic of a DNA Strand aside from restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis (RFLP).