African America: Mitochondrial DNA may not hold the key to your origins after all

Mitochondrial DNA may not hold the key to your origins after all.

A study published in the open access journal BMC Biology reveals that fewer than 10% of African American mitochondrial DNA sequences analysed can be matched to mitochondrial DNA from one single African ethnic group. There has been a growing interest in the use of mitochondrial DNA to trace maternal ancestries, and several companies now offer to analyse individuals’ mitochondrial DNA sequences to obtain information about their origins. The current study suggests that only one in nine African Americans may be able to find clues about where their ancestors came from, in their mitochondrial DNA.

Bert Ely (homepage), from the University of North Carolina, and colleagues from other Universities in the USA analysed a database of the human variable region, or HVS-1 region, of mitochondrial (mt) DNA sequences from sub-Saharan Africa. [Science, Genetics, Mitochondria, mtDNA, Sahara]

Continued at “Few Clues About African Ancestry To Be Found In Mitochondrial DNA”
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Based on “African-American mitochondrial DNAs often match mtDNAs found in multiple African ethnic groups” (Full Text available via Abstract link)

John Latter / Jorolat
Evolution Research
http://evomech3.blogspot.com/

Technorati: mitochondrial, dna, key, origins, study, open access, journal, bmc, biology, african american, sequences, african, ethnic, group, maternal, ancestry, information, americans, ancestors, bert, ely, university, north carolina, usa, database, human, variable, region, mtdna, sahara, africa, science, genetics, mitochondria, groups, ancestry

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