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Archiver > GENEALOGY-DNA > 2001-09 > 1000596363


From: "Allan S. Gleason" <>
Subject: Re: [DNA] September 11 & DNA
Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 16:26:03 -0700
References: <103.9206783.28d50a30@aol.com>


Ann,

The article was gone when I tried the URL. Here is a similar article
via Google search
(attack on America +DNA) - there may be better search criteria but this
is what I used and found.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27869-2001Sep13.html

This is, of course, not the site for us to express our sorrow. However,
the DNA identification aspects, I think, are most certainly relevant for
discussion here as long as we stick to the medical, scientific, criminal
and logistic aspects of the subject > DNA. Don't you agree???

Allan






wrote:
>
> I received a personal e-mail from a list member seeking clarification about
> DNA testing for victims at the World Trade Center. She was not certain that
> the topic was appropriate for the GENEALOGY-DNA mailing list, but there may
> be others who are wondering about the same thing, so I decided to post a
> public answer.
>
> There is a news story about collecting DNA from personal belongings of
> victims (e.g. a toothbrush) in order to match it with remains recovered from
> the WTC.
>
> http://us.news2.yimg.com/f/42/31/7m/dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010913/us/attac
>
> ks_ids_1.html
>
> The question was about the significance of a match, when we talk here about Y
> chromosome markers and mtDNA sequences being identical for everyone who is
> descended in a straight patrilineal or matrilineal line from a common
> ancestor. Although the article didn't specify the type of DNA test, I suspect
> it will be for the same markers used in forensic DNA testing. This is a set
> of 13 STR (short tandem repeat) markers taken from various chromosomes, not
> just the Y chromosome. These are sometimes referred to as the CODIS markers
> (COmbined DNA Indexing System).
>
> http://www.cstl.nist.gov/div831/strbase/fbicore.htm
>
> Every one has two copies of each marker, one from the father and one from the
> mother. The allele (variation) inherited from the father could have come from
> HIS father or his mother, and similarly for the allele inherited from the
> mother. Because these markers are on different chromosomes, they are
> completely shuffled for every child. It is extremely unlikely that brothers
> and sisters will have the same set of markers. Only identical twins would
> share the exact same set of alleles. Thus DNA testing of this type should be
> sufficient to identify remains, even the smallest of partial remains, and
> every effort is being made to preserve everything for future analysis.
>
> As President Bush said in the memorial services on Friday, "We are in the
> middle hour of our grief." This grief will continue for a long time, so I
> hope all of you have found other outlets for sharing your general thoughts
> and feelings about these events.
>
> Ann Turner
> GENEALOGY-DNA List Administrator
> http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/Miscellaneous/GENEALOGY-DNA.html
>
> ==============================
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