I recently profiled the website DnaTube which hosts videos and animations that explain various facets of genetics and DNA. Another source of valuable information is the Learn.Genetics website hosted by the Genetic Science Learning Center at the University of Utah.
According to the website:
“The Genetic Science Learning Center is an outreach education program located in [...]
An article in today’s New York Times, “Stalking Strangers’ DNA to Fill in the Family Tree” by Amy Harmon, looks at the extremes that some genetic genealogists have gone to to ‘obtain’ DNA from other people for analysis. The genetic genealogists in the article have stalked potential relatives and one keeps a DNA [...]
I just happened across a new site called DnaTube.com Scientific Video Site. According to the website:
“DnaTube is a scientific research site providing video based studies, lecturers and seminars. Our goal is to contribute science by generating self-growing community who shares their scientific experiences. Most of DnaTube members are graduate students from universities of [...]
The CCR5 gene encodes a chemokine receptor (a long name for a protein that sits in the walls of our cells). When the body has been invaded by a pathogen such as a cold virus, CCR5 plays an important role in fighting that virus. Smart viruses such as HIV-1, however, hijack the CCR5 protein and [...]
My first foray into genetic genealogy took place in 2003 when I ordered the mtDNAPlus (which sequences both HVR1 and HVR2) from Family Tree DNA.
Like so many other genealogists, I had been unable to trace my maternal line as far as I would have hoped. My most distant ancestor, Sarah L. Bodden, was born [...]
26 February 2007 – 9:06 am
AncestryByDNA is a popular genetic test developed by DNAPrint Genomics, Inc. The company offers a variety of genetic testing, including Y-chromosome and mtDNA ancestry. They are most well-known, however, for their two admixture tests. Admixture tests examine SNPs, or single nucleotide polymorphisms, in the 22 autosomal chromosomes in each of our [...]
18 February 2007 – 8:52 am
Researchers have analyzed the (abstract here) HVR1 (hypervariable region 1) of the mtDNA control region belonging to an ancient female skeleton. The skeleton, approximately 3,600 years old, was discovered in 1980 in a frozen Neolithic grave in northeastern Siberia.
Sequencing of a 377-base pair fragment (16015-16391) revealed three mutations; C16223T, T16298C, and C16327T. These mutations are [...]
16 February 2007 – 9:04 pm
A recent study by has characterized an allele that is present in all Native American populations tested. The allele, 9RA (9 repeat-allele) is a 9 tetranucleotide repeat allele composed of 275 bp at autosomal (meaning non-sex chromosome) microsatellite locus D9S1120 (on chromosome 9). Microsatellites are small DNA repeats that are typically neutral and [...]
14 February 2007 – 12:19 pm
I recently highlighted an article published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology entitled “Genetic analysis of early holocene skeletal remains from Alaska and its implications for the settlement of the America”.
I thought it might be interesting to ask one of the authors, Dr. Brian M. Kemp, his thoughts on the relationship between genetic [...]
