DNA analysis of human skeletal remains from the 1845 Franklin expedition

Stenton, Douglas R.; Keenleyside, Anne; Fratpietro, Stephen; Park, Robert W.

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.03.041

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…To eliminate the possibility of contamination of the NgLj-3 samples with modern DNA, four individuals who had come into direct contact with the remains, including three of the authors, provided buccal swab samples for comparison with the archaeological samples. None of the latter samples yielded sequences that matched the four modern samples, indicating no contamination of the archaeological samples with the DNA from these individuals (see Stenton, Keenleyside, Fratpietro, & Park, 2017). Members of the research team had no direct contact with the buccal swab sample (FR-027-2019) submitted by the presumed descendant donor.…”

Section: Dna Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

DNA identification of a sailor from the 1845 Franklin northwest passage expedition

et al. 2021

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The 1845 British polar expedition in search of a northwest passage through the Canadian Arctic under the command of Sir John Franklin resulted in the greatest loss of life event in the history of polar exploration. The names of the 129 officers and crew who sailed and died on the catastrophic voyage are known, but the identification of their skeletons found scattered along the route of their attempted escape is problematic. Here, we report DNA analyses from skeletal remains from King William Island, where the majority of the expedition fatalities occurred, and from a paternal descendant of a member of the expedition. A match was found between an archaeological sample and a presumed descendant sample using Y-chromosome haplotyping. We conclude that DNA and genealogical evidence confirm the identity of the remains as those of Warrant Officer John Gregory, Engineer, HMS Erebus. This is the first member of the 1845 Franklin expedition whose identity has been confirmed through DNA and genealogical analyses.

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Section: Dna Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

DNA identification of a sailor from the 1845 Franklin northwest passage expedition

et al. 2021

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“…More broadly speaking, it is anthropological knowledge applied to legal issues (Palo et al, 2007;Slavec, 2012). Recovery, description, and identification of human skeletal remains are the standard work of forensic anthropologists (Palo et al, 2007;Slavec, 2012;Gomes et al, 2017;Stenton et al, 2017). The condition of the evidence varies greatly, including decomposing, burned, cremated, fragmented, or disarticulated remains (Thompson, 2003).…”

Section: Control Region Of Mtdna As a Reliable Tool In Forensic Anthrmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Without DNA technology, more than half of the identified victims would not have been identified (Ballantyne, 1997). The human mtDNA has been proven to be a useful tool for identification crime victim's especially skeletal remains (Holland and Parsons, 1999;Bender et al, 2000;Rudbeck et al, 2005;Torroni et al, 2006;Palo et al, 2007;Adams et al, 2008;Alaeddini et al, 2010;Shinoda, 2010;Köhnemann and Pfeiffer, 2011;Blau et al, 2014;Hayat et al, 2016;Amer et al, 2017;Gomes et al, 2017;Stenton et al, 2017;Calacal et al, 2018;Mendisco et al, 2018).…”

Section: Control Region Of Mtdna As a Reliable Tool In Forensic Anthrmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application control region of human mitochondrial DNA in forensic anthropology

Samehsalari¹,

Reddy²

2018

Int.J.Mod.Anthrop

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Mitochondrial genome has particular features that make it a valuable forensic marker; first of all it is present in each somatic cell in high numbers. Therefore, it is more resistant to degradation and more stable under unfavorable conditions than nuclear DNA (nDNA) in highly damaged, degraded or very small quantity of the samples. Secondly, the high mutation rate, lack of recombination and the maternal mode of inheritance are features which make the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) better choice in situations where nDNA cannot be used for the analysis. Thus, forensic Anthropologists can determine how mitochondrial DNA may be best utilized in skeletal remains or hair shafts, which essentially lack nDNA but contain sufficient amounts of mtDNA. The most extensive mtDNA variations between individuals are found within the Control region or hypervariable regions (HVI, HVII, and HVIII) which allowed individuals to be differentiated and it could provide evidence about the identity of crime victims, especially skeletal remains. In this article we review the feature of mtDNA and its role as a reliable tool in Forensic Anthropology.

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Finding the dead: bodies, bones and burials from the 1845 Franklin northwest passage Expedition

Stenton

2018

Polar Record

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On 22 April 1848, after three years in the Arctic, and 19 months spent ice-bound in northern Victoria Strait, the 105 surviving officers and crew of the Franklin Northwest Passage expedition deserted HMS Erebus and HMS Terror as the first step of their escape plan. They assembled at a camp south of Victory Point on the northwest coast of King William Island and made the final preparations for the next step, a 400 km trek along the frozen seashores of King William Island and Adelaide Peninsula to the Back River. All of the men died before reaching their destination, and their remains have been found at 35 locations along the route of the retreat. These discoveries have played a central role in reenactments of events thought to have occurred during the failed attempt to reach the Back River and to the disastrous outcome of the expedition. This paper presents a summary of these findings and examines the criteria used to attribute them to the Franklin expedition. It is suggested that approximately one-third of the identifications have been based on information that is inadequate to confidently assign the human remains as those of Franklin expedition personnel.

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DNA analysis of human skeletal remains from the 1845 Franklin expedition

Cited by 4 publications

References 32 publications

DNA identification of a sailor from the 1845 Franklin northwest passage expedition

DNA identification of a sailor from the 1845 Franklin northwest passage expedition

Application control region of human mitochondrial DNA in forensic anthropology

Finding the dead: bodies, bones and burials from the 1845 Franklin northwest passage Expedition

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