Mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA

General Information

MtDNA sequencing is often used in cases where biological evidence may be degraded or small in quantity. Cases in which hairs, bones, or teeth are the only evidence retrieved from a crime scene are particularly well-suited to mtDNA analysis. Missing persons cases can benefit from mtDNA testing when skeletonized remains are recovered and compared to samples from the maternal relatives or personal effects of missing individuals. Also, hairs recovered at crime scenes can often be used to include or exclude individuals using mtDNA testing.

Mitochondrial DNA differs from nuclear DNA in its location, sequence, quantity in the cell, and mode of inheritance. The nucleus of the cell contains two sets of 23 chromosomes—one paternal set and one maternal set. However, cells may contain hundreds to thousands of mitochondria, each of which may contain several copies of mtDNA. Nuclear DNA has many more bases than mtDNA, but mtDNA is present in many more copies than nuclear DNA. This characteristic of mtDNA is useful in situations where the amount of DNA in a sample is very limited. Typical sources of DNA recovered from crime scenes include hair, bones, teeth, and body fluids such as saliva, semen, and blood.

In humans, mitochondrial DNA is inherited strictly from the mother (Case and Wallace 1981; Giles et al. 1980; Hutchison et al. 1974). Thus, the mtDNA sequences obtained from maternally related individuals, such as a brother and a sister or a mother and a daughter, will exactly match each other in the absence of a mutation. This characteristic of mtDNA is advantageous in missing persons cases as reference mtDNA samples can be supplied by any maternal relative of the missing individual (Ginther et al. 1992; Holland et al. 1993; Stoneking et al. 1991). However, mtDNA analysis is limited when compared to nuclear DNA analysis in that it cannot discriminate between individuals of the same maternal lineage.

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Fees

$600.00

Specimen Requirements

Buccal swab; 10cc Lavender

Turnaround Time

4-7 days, up to 10 days for complex analysis

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Learning Center

>Science of DNA Paternity and Molecular Tecnology