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Archiver > GENEALOGY-DNA > 2001-12 > 1008540032


From: "Orin R. Wells" <>
Subject: Re: [DNA] DNA on the dead
Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2001 14:06:15 -0800
References: <200112161000.fBGA0TM10251@lists5.rootsweb.com>
In-Reply-To: <3C1CDC8D.AF877DE1@gte.net>


At 11:40 AM 12/16/01 -0600, Leonard J. McCown wrote:

>Does anyone know whether DNA can be collected from a body buried back in
>1984?

You can, but do you really want to?

The legal hassle of obtaining a premit to exhume the body plus the cost of
having the cemetery people do the work (you can't just show up with your
shovel) may not be worth the trouble. mtDNA apparently lasts quite a long
time. But I have seen some indication that y-DNA may not. How long that
is I don't know. I have been told that it may be possible to obtain y-DNA
from a body buried 600 years ago. I know where one is and it does not have
to be dug up to do it. But, getting the authorities to allow it is
probably another issue.

They have taken samples from Egyptian and Peruvian (I think) mummies. Not
sure how old the Peruvian mummies were but the Egyptian mummies were
several thousand years old. And there was the Ice man from Austria and a
fellow they dug up out of an old peat moss area in England (I think that
was the "Chedder man"). I think they took DNA from each of these. So yes,
but it may depend on what you need.






Orin R. Wells
Wells Family Research Association
P. O. Box 5427
Kent, Washington 98064-5427
<>
http://www.rootsweb.com/~wellsfam/wfrahome.html
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