Titanic's unknown child: The critical role of the mitochondrial DNA coding region in a re-identification effort

Just, Rebecca S.; Loreille, Odile; Molto, Joseph E.; Merriwether, D. Andrew; Woodward, Scott R.; Matheson, Carney; Creed, Jennifer; McGrath, Stacey E.; Sturk-Andreaggi, Kimberly; Coble, Michael D.; Irwin, Jodi A.; Ruffman, Alan; Parr, Ryan

doi:10.1016/j.fsigen.2010.01.012

Cited by 18 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…In several cases, molecular genetics has been used to identify the remains of individuals associated with well-known historical events, including the massacre of the Romanov family (Coble et al, 2009;Gill et al, 1994), and the Titanic disaster (Just et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

DNA analysis of human skeletal remains from the 1845 Franklin expedition

Stenton

Keenleyside

Fratpietro

et al. 2017

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

DNA analysis of human skeletal remains from the 1845 Franklin expedition

Stenton

Keenleyside

Fratpietro

et al. 2017

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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“…The results of the first ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis of human remains appeared in 1985 when S. Paabo described his successful attempt to retrieve and analyze the nuclear Alu repetitive sequence family DNA from a 2,400-year-old Egyptian mummy of a child [4]. The development of PCR [5,6] boosted aDNA studies, but most studies have examined sequences of the mitochondrial genome [7][8][9] rather than focusing on the more difficult nuclear DNA. Improvements in molecular biological technologies in the last decade have helped overcome some of the limitations that restricted DNA analysis to mitochondrial DNA, which is abundant in mammalian cells.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Complex Analysis of 700-Year-Old Skeletal Remains found in an Unusual GraveÂ–Case Report

Brzobohata¹

2015

Anthropol

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Aim: The present study was designed to analyze the 700-year-old human remains from an unusual grave using a combined approach that consisted of anthropological, archaeogenetic, genealogical, mass spectrometry, 3-dimensional (3D) modeling and facial reconstruction methods to confirm or reject several hypotheses about the skeletal remains.Methods: DNA was extracted from the skeleton and amplified using autosomal and Y-chromosome human identification short tandem repeat (STR) kits that were designed for forensic use, and sequence data were obtained from hyper variable region I (HVRI) mtDNA sequencing. Elemental mapping and quantification of investigated elements were performed using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). The Computed Tomography (CT) images of the skull were created in a transversal plane, and the scans were used to create 3D geometric models of the skull. A plastic physical model (a cast) of the skull was produced by rapid prototyping technology, and the model was used for sculptural facial approximation of the studied individual. Results:The Y-chromosome haplogroup of the sample was determined to be E1b1b, and the assigned mtDNA haplogroup was H. LA-ICP-MS and geochemical analysis revealed that the individual consumed plants and meats, except pork. Anthropological examination estimated the age of the individual to be between 45-55 years, and we did not find any traces of disablement or physical anomalies. Interestingly, we were able to produce a facial reconstruction according to the skull. Conclusion:Applying a multidisciplinary approach to the examination of the 14th century material enabled us to retrieve new types of information that helped us to interpret the excavated skeletal remains.

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“…The genetic markers carried on these lineage chromosomes can be useful for kinship analysis to provide additional support or to exclude relationships particularly for complex kinships, for more distant relationships, and for database searches (with very limited family member candidates) [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. The discrimination power of current multiplex Y-STR systems used for identification, although dependent on the size of the population sample, can reach 0.999 with 10 Y-STRs and 0.9999 with 16 YSTRs [15,16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Methods to calculate the likelihood ratio (LR) for the lineage markers have been discussed and have been applied in real cases [4,7,[9][10][11][12]14]; these approaches mainly focus on the manner to calculate haplotype frequency. The prosecution or kinship hypothesis usually considers the haplotypes in the same lineage instead of a fixed relationship of the questioned person in the reference family.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pedigree likelihood ratio for lineage markers

Eisenberg

Yan

et al. 2010

Int J Legal Med

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Lineage-based haplotype markers (e.g., Y chromosome STRs and mitochondrial DNA sequences) are important adjunct tools to the autosomal markers for kinship analysis and for specialized kinship applications such as database searching. Traditionally, the prosecution or kinship hypothesis considers the haplotypes in the same lineage and the probability of genotype data given the lineage hypothesis is simply set at 1 if the number of mismatched loci or nucleotides between the questioned person and the references is less than a predefined threshold. In this study, a kinship hypothesis based on a fixed relationship of the questioned person in the reference family is introduced. A graphical model is proposed to calculate the probability of the genotype data given the kinship hypothesis, which is the product of haplotype frequency of the founder in the pedigree and the transmission probability from the founder to all descendants. Proper mutation models are suggested for Y chromosome STRs and mitochondrial DNA sequence variants (i.e., SNPs) to calculate the transmission probability. The methods to infer the genotypes of the untyped individuals in the pedigree and the computational complexity of handling these untyped individuals are also addressed. Lastly, numerical examples of the applications are given to demonstrate the kinship hypothesis and the algorithms.

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Titanic's unknown child: The critical role of the mitochondrial DNA coding region in a re-identification effort

Cited by 18 publications

References 24 publications

DNA analysis of human skeletal remains from the 1845 Franklin expedition

DNA analysis of human skeletal remains from the 1845 Franklin expedition

Complex Analysis of 700-Year-Old Skeletal Remains found in an Unusual GraveÂ–Case Report

Pedigree likelihood ratio for lineage markers

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