- 01 Introduction
- 02 Biology of DNA
- 03 Practical Issues Specific to DNA Evidence
- 04 Introduction to the Forensic DNA Laboratory
- 05 Assuring Quality in DNA Testing
- 06 Understanding a Forensic DNA Lab Report
- 07 Statistics and Population Genetics
- 08 Mitochondrial DNA & Y-STR Analysis
- 09 Forensic DNA Databases
- 10 Collection of DNA Evidence from Suspects and Arrestees
- 11 Pretrial DNA Evidence Issues
- 12 Victim Issues
- 13 Trial Presentation
- 14 Postconviction DNA Cases
- 15 Emerging Trends
Principles of Forensic DNA
for Officers of the Court
for Officers of the Court
Module 8 :: mtDNA & Y-STR
Topic 1 :: Introduction to mtDNA
Hypervariable Regions
The role of nucleotides in mtDNA is to code for genes involved in energy production. However, there are two small, noncoding hypervariable regions that contain DNA information used in forensic testing. The mtDNA type of a biological sample is determined by the precise order, or sequence, of the DNA nucleotides in these regions.
