Polymorphic DNA: DNA sequences which are relatively variable between different individuals or species.
- "poly" = "many"
- "morphic" = "shapes"
Some stretches of DNA within a genome will be extremely conserved (will not vary) among individuals. Such conserved DNA will not be useful for analytical methods which use DNA to find differences among individuals. Alternatively, some stretches of DNA within a genome tend to vary moderately or greatly among individuals. These variable stretches of DNA will be far more informative when using DNA to distinguish individuals from one-another.