Credit: Universidad de La Laguna
Posted on 05/07/2014 6:34:02 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Researchers from the University of La Laguna have applied a new genetic method to analyzed archaeological remains that enables the sex of skeletal remains from the indigenous peoples of the island of El Hierro to be determined...
With the remains from Punta Azul, the researchers used a fragment of the amelogenin gene. As Calderón explains, this gene is present in the X chromosome and in the Y chromosome however, there is a small deletion -- a special type of chromosomal anomaly -- in X, which makes it ideal for sex determination by DNA amplification...
Only those in which the mitochondrial DNA could be amplified were selected to analyzed the amelogenin gene. It has been confirmed that if there is no mitochondrial DNA (multiple copies found per cell), the results obtained from a nuclear DNA amplification such as amelogenin are not very reliable.
The amelogenin was analyzedd in 53 of a total of 59 tibias and positive results were obtained in 52. All this shows that the sample was well-preserved.
Also, the tibias were measured and the results were combined with the previous genetic analysis. "This research shows that by studying the amelogenin, discriminant functions can be created for a specific population, which can later be applied to other remains from that same population with a higher degree of reliability," outlined the scientist.
The importance of this lies in proving the usefulness of the amelogenin gene as a standard for gender identification. This opens the door to the creation of new functions for various populations, with different bones and even improving some of those that already exist. The method could be applied to other populations of different ages and ethnic origins.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
Credit: Universidad de La Laguna
Using genetics to determine sex offends the LGBTQ??? Organizations
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