NCJ Number
237532
Journal
Forensic Science International: Genetics Volume: 6 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2012 Pages: 143-145
Date Published
January 2012
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This report examines the data quality of the He's et al. study by using in silico phylogenetic procedures.
Abstract
In a Nature paper of 2010, the concern was raised that intra-individual mtDNA variation may be more pronounced than previously believed, in that heteroplasmies are common and vary markedly from tissue to tissue. This claim taken at face value would have considerable impact on forensic casework. It turns out however that the employed technology detected the germ-line variation relative to the reference sequence only incompletely: on average at least five mutations were missed per sample, as an in silico reassessment of the data reveals. Before one can really set out to access to entire mtDNA genome data with relative ease for forensic purposes, one needs careful calibration studies under strict forensic conditions-or might have to wait for another generation. (Published Abstract)