The human genome contains a number of short DNA sequences that are present as tandem repeats of varied lengths at several chromosomal locations. These Variable Number of Tandem Repeats (VNTR) are important components of DNA fingerprints. When DNA is cut with restriction endonucleases, a pattern of bands is produced. It can be visualized by Southern blot hybridization using radiolabelled VNTR sequences as probes. This pattern is known as DNA fingerprints.