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May 20, 2004
MITOCHONDRIAL DNA TESTING UPHELD AS RELIABLE BY 6th CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS
From Daubert On the Web, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the reliability of mitochondrial DNA testing and provides a fairly in-depth discussion of the probabilities of a DNA match when mitochondrial DNA (DNA, which is found outside of the nucleus in the mitochondrion) is used for purposes of comparison.
United States v. Beverly, No. 00-3617 (6th Cir. May 12, 2004). According to the 6th Circuit's decision:
This technique, which generally looks at the differences between people?s mitochondrial DNA, has some advantages over nuclear DNA analysis in certain situations. For example, while any given cell contains only one nucleus, there are a vast number of mitochondria. As a result, there is a significantly greater amount of mtDNA in a cell from which a sample can be extracted by a lab technician, as compared to nuclear DNA.
Thus, this technique is very useful for minute samples or ancient and degraded samples.
Ibid. In addition, mitochondrial DNA can be obtained from some sources that nuclear DNA cannot. For example, mtDNA can be found in shafts of hair, which do not have a nucleus, but do have plenty of mitochondria. Nuclear DNA can only be retrieved from the living root of the hair where the nucleus resides.
On the other hand, mtDNA is not as precise an identifier as nuclear DNA. In the case of nuclear DNA, half is inherited from the mother and half from the father, and each individual, with the exception of identical twins, almost certainly has a unique profile. MtDNA, by contrast, is inherited only from the mother and thus all maternal relatives will share the same mtDNA profile, unless a mutation has occurred.
Because it is not possible to achieve the extremely high level of certainty of identity provided by nuclear DNA, mtDNA typing has been said to be a test of exclusion, rather than one of identification.
. . . .
Even an article critical of mtDNA stated the most frequent pattern applies in no more than 3% of the population. Erica Beecher-Monas,
The Heuristics of Intellectual Due Process: A Primer for Triers of Science, 75 N.Y.U.L. Rev. 1563, 1655 n.535 (2000).
Therefore, the 6th Circuit held that mitochondrial DNA testing is a reliable means of excluding a potential suspect and, since the defendant's mitochondrial DNA matched that of the specimen found, the defendant could not be excluded as a suspect/
Posted by Douglas Sorocco at 10:28 PM.
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