DNA - what can we learn?

How many people are interested in the difference of what we learn from mitochondrial DNA/RNA than chromosomal DNA? This is an area of immense importance medically, forensically, and from a research standpoint, yet relatively few people understand why the differences exist.

I realize that this is an old thread, but I have been puzzled why no one picked up on this topic, considering the Genetic Engineering, human "hybrids," etc.

I'll bring it back once more, and see if there is any interest this time.

You haven't offered anything to respond to. Perhaps it would be better if you went ahead and stated some of the things you consider interesting or important about the subject. Something you say might click with someone or light a spark of interest.

Youv'e asked a question in a void. Fill in the spaces a bit so we have an idea what you are on about.

There are several sources of DNA and RNA inside cells. The chromosomes are where the DNA is stored in the form of genes that determine how tall we are, what color our eyes are, etc, and these are always found in the nucleus of the cell. However, other sources of DNA and RNA within the cell, known as non-nuclear DNA/RNA, and these are needed for routine cellular functions. BUT the story doesn't end there.

The unique aspect is that mothers can pass non-nuclear DNA/RNA that has NO INPUT from the father of the child. Thus, we can do genome testing on the nuclear DNA to see what the parents passed to the patient, but by testing the non-nuclear DNA, we can tell information of the mother only!

This is not only important for forensics, but it better allows for evaluation of previous generations, because mothers gave this to daughters for generations, regardless of who the father was.

reply to post by Truth1000


OK, intersting. Thanks for the additional info. This is the first I've heard of this, but ...... so ..... implication or importance? What big thing might this open doors to?? To those of us not in your field, it is hard to see what is so important about this.

By the way, would the mother not pass the non nuclear DNA on to sons as well??? You mentioned only mother to daughter.

reply to post by wayno


The mothers would pass this DNA to their sons, but their sons could not pass it on to their children, so it becomes 'lost."

Think of some of the implications. As we learn more about the human genome, we can tell that people with these genes settled in Asia 10,000 years ago, while those with this gene came from families that stayed in Africa. Aside from just seeing how much DNA matches in forensic settings (did this man rape that woman), it can have much greater implications in determining relationships within families. Say five generations ago, two girls from the same father had different mothers, but that was supressed information at the time. A DNA determination from descendents show that one "set" of family members had one set of maternal non-nuclear DNA, while the others had a different set. Now imagine that the family five generations ago were aristocrats, of fabulously wealthy, but only from one mother's side. They could retro-actively track the genetics and determine which family members were actually entitled to the "titles" or wealth, and which one weren't.

If this maternal DNA could be tracked, a heritage otherwise unknown might be discovered. If you were trying to prove Jewish heritage to travel back to Israel, a Jewish mother four generations ago could show up clearly, while the nuclear DNA could be in question.

This would also affect scientists who are DNA anthropologists. They could make discoveries of genetic mutations between differences in the nuclear versus non-nuclear DNA.

This is just the tip of the iceburg for this research!

reply to post by Truth1000


The potentials for this could be staggering - just imagine what we could discover about ancient lineages!
I assume there's no limit as to how far back we can go with this?

Not only does it infer ancient lineages, but if new "genes" suddenly popped up in groups of people during the times that they were "visited" people from other lands, such as early transfer of genetics from Africa or Europe to the Americas, or were "visits" by "gods" from the sky were reported, it could be a scientific link that would prove very hard to dispute.

There are even ways for genetic changes to be "dated" as to their occurrence.