TY - JOUR
T1 - Mitochondrial DNA, a Powerful Tool to Decipher Ancient Human Civilization from Domestication to Music, and to Uncover Historical Murder Cases
AU - Merheb, Maxime
AU - Matar, Rachel
AU - Hodeify, Rawad
AU - Siddiqui, Shoib Sarwar
AU - Vazhappilly, Cijo George
AU - Marton, John
AU - Azharuddin, Syed
AU - Al Zouabi, Hussain
N1 - © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
PY - 2019/5/9
Y1 - 2019/5/9
N2 - Mitochondria are unique organelles carrying their own genetic material, independent from that in the nucleus. This review will discuss the nature of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and its levels in the cell, which are the key elements to consider when trying to achieve molecular identification in ancient and degraded samples. mtDNA sequence analysis has been appropriately validated and is a consistent molecular target for the examination of biological evidence encountered in forensic cases-and profiling, in certain conditions-especially for burnt bodies and degraded samples of all types. Exceptional cases and samples will be discussed in this review, such as mtDNA from leather in Beethoven's grand piano, mtDNA in mummies, and solving famous historical criminal cases. In addition, this review will be discussing the use of ancient mtDNA to understand past human diet, to trace historical civilizations and ancient trade routes, and to uncover geographical domestication origins and lineage relationships. In each topic, we will present the power of mtDNA and how, in many cases, no nuclear DNA was left, leaving mitochondrial DNA analysis as a powerful alternative. Exploring this powerful tool further will be extremely useful to modern science and researchers, due to its capabilities in providing us with previously unattainable knowledge.
AB - Mitochondria are unique organelles carrying their own genetic material, independent from that in the nucleus. This review will discuss the nature of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and its levels in the cell, which are the key elements to consider when trying to achieve molecular identification in ancient and degraded samples. mtDNA sequence analysis has been appropriately validated and is a consistent molecular target for the examination of biological evidence encountered in forensic cases-and profiling, in certain conditions-especially for burnt bodies and degraded samples of all types. Exceptional cases and samples will be discussed in this review, such as mtDNA from leather in Beethoven's grand piano, mtDNA in mummies, and solving famous historical criminal cases. In addition, this review will be discussing the use of ancient mtDNA to understand past human diet, to trace historical civilizations and ancient trade routes, and to uncover geographical domestication origins and lineage relationships. In each topic, we will present the power of mtDNA and how, in many cases, no nuclear DNA was left, leaving mitochondrial DNA analysis as a powerful alternative. Exploring this powerful tool further will be extremely useful to modern science and researchers, due to its capabilities in providing us with previously unattainable knowledge.
KW - Civilization
KW - DNA, Ancient/analysis
KW - DNA, Mitochondrial/genetics
KW - Domestication
KW - History, 18th Century
KW - Homicide/history
KW - Humans
KW - Music
U2 - 10.3390/cells8050433
DO - 10.3390/cells8050433
M3 - Review article
C2 - 31075917
SN - 2073-4409
VL - 8
JO - Cells
JF - Cells
IS - 5
M1 - 433
ER -