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You are right. The reason behind it is that these companies use mitochondrial DNA for their analysis, which is only passed down from mother to child. /s
by josu 11y ago
You are right. The reason behind it is that these companies use mitochondrial DNA for their analysis, which is only passed down from mother to child. /s
- facepalm 11y agoBut why do they need to analyze the victim's DNA - wouldn't they typically be looking for a match for the perpetrator of the crime?
- Absentinsomniac 11y agoI guess if the victim's DNA were on the offender... But then why not ask the victim for a sample? :/
- bjacks 11y agoBecause the victim is dead and they can't find any family.
- Turing_Machine 11y agoBecause the victim is a John or Jane Doe (i.e., they don't know who it is).
- nly 11y agoExcept they analyse Y-chromosomal DNA as well.
- chrisprobert 11y agoYou're right that Ancestry.com is focused on mtDNA, but 23andMe actually uses a custom Illumina microarray with autosome, allosome, and mitochondrial targets. Here's a study where 23andMe used their (old version) chips to replicate a bunch of known genetic associations, most of which are autosomal: http://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1002141 http://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/jou...
- uhtred 11y agoBut they aren't interested in the victim's DNA so that is irrelevant. They are interested in other DNA found at the crime scene, i.e. belonging to the attacker or someone related to the attacker.
- Buge 11y agoYes. josu was being sarcastic.
- SarahofGaia 11y agoWhat does /s mean?
- jnetterf 11y agoIt marks whatever precedes it as sarcastic.
- SarahofGaia 11y agoI thought so, but wasn't 100% sure. Thanks.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]