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RE: [ranchos] Re: mtDNA and other DNA

 
Victor.......is this the complete message?  It appears that you left off in the middle of a sentence......Thanks!    Josie

From: ranchos@yahoogroups.com [mailto:ranchos@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of v.h.villarreal
Sent: Saturday, November 19, 2005 11:45 AM
To: ranchos@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ranchos] Re: mtDNA and other DNA

Josie,

That's a keen observation and a good question about the number of differences in our mtDNA in relation to the CRS reference.

Let's start by saying that the CRS (Cambridge Reference Sequence) is just an arbitrary reference selected by some team of geneticist that were among the first to study the genetic sequences of mitochondrial DNA.  They decided to use the sequence of one of their subjects as a comparison reference, maybe one of their own samples, who knows?.  The selected mtDNA belongs to haplogroup H, the most prevalent haplogroup in Europe.  Therefore many European persons who get tested have few differences if any with the CRS reference.

Next, what the commercial tests show us about our mtDNA is not the whole sequence of mtDNA but just one or two regions:  HVR1 and HVR2 (Hyper Variable Regions).  Supposedly these two regions don't have any medical implications so having a fewer more or a fewer less mutations is not very sign