mtDNA- Mitochondrial DNA -questions

[carole]

Thanks for bumping this JBean, just in time because I have a question.

What I understand is, the only DNA report for Caylee that has been released so far is the mtDNA report on the hair from the trunk and comparing it to the known buccal sample from KC.

And, in looking at the report (and I am no scientist), the mDNA is identical to KC's. The exact wording is "Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences were obtained from the Q12.1 hair from the Q12 debris from the left side of the trunk liner and item K1 buccal sample identified as coming from CASEY ANTHONY identified as the mother of CAYLEE MARIE ANTHONY". The mtDNA sequences from obtained from items from items Q12.1 and K1 are the same. Therefore neither CASEY ANTHONY nor CAYLEE MARIE ANTHONY can be excluded as the source of the Q12.1 hair."

Here's my question: If the mtDNA is identical to KC (as it should be, since mtDNA is passed from mother to child), then there is absolutely no possibility to infer anything at all about the paternity of the child from her mtDNA, correct? If we had the complete DNA sequence, we might be able to infer something from the DNA as to the paternity, but with the mtDNA, all we have is a carbon copy of KC's mtDNA and absolutely no data from the father at all. Please correct me if I am wrong on that.

There is a "complete" DNA of Caylee from the paternity test that excluded Jesse Grund as her father.

 

[DawnTCB]

There is a "complete" DNA of Caylee from the paternity test that excluded Jesse Grund as her father.

Thank you for your reply.

Has that been released? I have not seen it? I think the only one that has been released is the mtDNA report, and I am asking if it is true that there is no way to determine anything about the father of Caylee from that report.

 

[carole]

Thank you for your reply.

Has that been released? I have not seen it? I think the only one that has been released is the mtDNA report, and I am asking if it is true that there is no way to determine anything about the father of Caylee from that report.

No, it hasn't been released to the public.

 

[Bev]

It's possible to determine the ethnic background of the father, but unless there is a profile of his dna in a publicc data bank, then no, they cannot determine who the father is.

 

[DawnTCB]

It's possible to determine the ethnic background of the father, but unless there is a profile of his dna in a publicc data bank, then no, they cannot determine who the father is.

Ok that's what I want to know, because that does not match up with what I have read about mtDNA. My understanding of mtDNA is that you CANNOT determine the ethnic background of the father, because there is no passing of paternal mtDNA. Caylee's mtDNA is an exact copy of KC's mtDNA (just as mine is an exact copy of my mother's, and yours is an exact copy of your mother's) and nothing can be told about the father at all. Obviously they could not determine who the father was, even with full DNA, unless his profile was available for comparison. But I don't think you can tell anything about the father at all from mtDNA, because there is nothing there from the father at all. This is why the hair could have been KC's or Caylee's, because their mtDNA is exactly the same. Lee would also have exactly the same mtDNA, as would CA, CA's mother, CA's maternal grandmother, etc. All had different fathers (well except for Lee and KC) but their mtDNA would be identical (except for small and occasional genetic mutations) because there is no genetic information from the father in their mtDNA.

In fact, I think it is also true that there are a reasonably large number of people who would match that hair in the trunk. Many of those people are alive. Some are deceased. If the defense can somehow place one of the deceased people in or near KC's trunk, I believe there is no amount of scientific testing that could prove the hair did not belong to them. Those people would include any of KC's children, any of CA's children, any of CA's mother's children (CA's brothers and/or sisters), any of CA's mother's grandchildren born from a daughter (CA's nieces and nephews by her sister, if she has one), any of CA's grandmother's children (CA's aunts and uncles) and any of CA's cousins born from a biological aunt. In fact, there is a theory that there is a "mitochondrial Eve" where all original mtDNA originated from, with only genetic mutations allowing for the differences in the mtDNA for all human beings.

Here is my understanding. DNA comes 50% from the mother and 50% from the father. mtDNA comes 100% from the mother. Therefore, even if we knew who the father was, we could not prove it with mtDNA. Is this incorrect?

 

[DawnTCB]

Here's something I found, which I think was also mentioned earlier in this thread:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/neanderthals/mtdna.html

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Sans-Serif]Inheriting mtDNA Whenever an egg cell is fertilized, nuclear chromosomes from a sperm cell enter the egg and combine with the egg's nuclear DNA, producing a mixture of both parents' genetic code. The mtDNA from the sperm cell, however, is left behind, outside of the egg cell.

So the fertilized egg contains a mixture of the father and mother's nuclear DNA and an exact copy of the mother's mtDNA, but none of the father's mtDNA. The result is that mtDNA is passed on only along the maternal line. This means that all of the mtDNA in the cells of a person's body are copies of his or her mother's mtDNA, and all of the mother's mtDNA is a copy of her mother's, and so on. No matter how far back you go, mtDNA is always inherited only from the mother.

If you went back six generations in your own family tree, you'd see that your nuclear DNA is inherited from 32 men and 32 women. Your mtDNA, on the other hand, would have come from only one of those 32 women.[/FONT]

 

[LoriC73]

Hair is only "alive" at the root. The majority of your hair is considered "dead". When you die, all tissue starts decaying. If the hair would fall out after death, it would have decaying tissue attached, hence the "black banding" we keep hearing about. If you are alive and well and you hair falls out, there would be no black banding on it.
Also, someone stated that your hair continues to grow after death, which is false. Your skin loses moisture, begins decaying and shrinks. This also causes hair to fall out easier.
All the defense needs is one person that believes old wives tales about hair growing/nails growing after death and all hair falling out dying and looking the same to prove KC to be innocent or to hang a jury. The prosecution should make sure they spend a lot of time explaining the difference.

 

[MADJGNLAW]

Trying to figure out how Caylee only has Casey same DNA... The way Bill Manion worded it was tricky, hoping to figure out what he meant.



Last night on JVM - http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0901/29/ijvm.01.html

BILL MANION, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Well, they`re trying to find the location of the child`s killing. And presumably, when the body was swept up, thrown in a bag, perhaps other items were taken with the body, and that may be the area -- the location of where the body was murdered, was actually killed.

It was interesting. In the last week the prosecutor has released all the information from the FBI laboratory. And for those forensic fans out there that want to see real FBI reports, it`s quite interesting to see how the FBI is going through all the -- all the evidence presented to them and finding, for instance, that hair in the trunk has mitochondrial DNA of the child that is identical to the mitochondrial DNA of the mother. So...

VELEZ-MITCHELL:That`s not a good sign, Jayne Weintraub. But getting back to the Winnie the Pooh blanket and the plastic horse, OK, the Winnie the Pooh blanket, they say, matches Winnie the Pooh set in the house.

JAYNE WEINTRAUB, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It matches the set. It doesn`t say that the threads are the same, from the same, and match the ones that were in the room. You see, a part of a matching set could be just a different one from a different store.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But the point -- the point is that -- come on. I mean, what`s the likelihood of...



The basics about Mitochondrial DNA inheritance and uses for genealogy
The mitochondrial DNA is a type of genetic test that is used to learn more about the mother's side of the family as mitochondrial DNA (also known as mother-DNA) is transmitted from the mother to her children. In this article we will see how the mitochondrial DNA testing is done, what he is used to the differences and testing of nuclear

DNA.

DNA mitochondrial DNA is found in the mitochondria of cells and differs from nuclear DNA. The nuclear DNA is a combination of mother, father and DNA, while mitochondrial DNA is inherited only from the mother. When the egg from the mother and sperm from the father join to form the new baby of the tail of the sperm that contains the father of mitochondrial DNA are left out and the fact that the mother of mitochondrial DNA is transmitted to the child. http://testingdna.blogspot.com/2007/12/basics-about-mitochondrial-dna.html