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Darwinist mantra that, when it came o nature, absolutely anything was possible. Therefore, we couldn't show them any physical variation hat they couldn't explain by calling upon the unlimited power they hemselves had assigned to nature. t was like trying to argue with religious zealots. No, it might have been worse. We certainly couldn't ind any room for flexibility, so in he end it all came down to DNA analysis—the premier tool of scientific certainty. People ended up on death row because of DNA evidence, just as it saved others from wrongful convictions. DNA was the weapon of choice for those wishing to make a case against closed minds and cowardly spirits. DNA has two basic types: mitochondrial and nuclear. In nearly every cell in an animal's body, which can amount to trillions, here is a small core, called the nucleus, surrounded by a jelly-like substance, called cytoplasm. magine a golf ball with its cork core, its surrounding twine and its durable "skin". This analogises a iving cell perfectly: nucleus, cytoplasm and outer wall. itochondria are passed down intact from Floating around in the cytoplasm like raisins in generation to generation solely by females. They pudding are mitochondria, which are small packets o change only slightly over the centuries, with a what are called base pairs, the smallest units of matter | mutation here and a mutation there, but by and large hat make up genes which combine to form hey stay the same. Whether you are male or female, chromosomes. In each mitochondrion there are abou you have essentially the same mitochondria possessed The Starchild skull, showing some of its external anomalies. 6,000 base pairs. Keep that number in mind. by 100 or more generations in your family line, back to Inside the cell nucleus is the entire genome of the he first female in your line. Thus, they are easy to individual, containing all the chromosomes given to i rack throughout the course of genetic testing. by its parents. In humans, that is 23 from Dad and 23 The DNA inside the nucleus of cells is much harder trom Mom—a total of 46 chromosomes. Incredibly, © recover intact than the DNA inside mitochondria our closest genetic relatives, chimps and apes, with because it is much larger and far more fragile and whom we supposedly share a very close biologica because there is so incredibly much more of it to "descent" from a remote common ancestor, have 48 degrade. Also, because it comes from both parents it chromosomes. This is beyond bizarre, and | discuss i is never the same in any two individuals. There will extensively in my work regarding human origins, always be a large amount of mixing and matching of though it plays only a peripheral role in the Starchild's he base pairs, genes and chromosomes between case. couples who produce offspring. Each new mating is The total genome of a typical human is made up o' unique, and even identical twins will exhibit subtle those 46 chromosomes comprised of roughly 25,000 variations. genes, which are subdivided into roughly three billion base pairs. So remember that number, too, and The Starchild's Mitochondrial DNA compare it with the 16,000 base pairs in each We took the Starchild skull to Trace Genetics in mitochondrion floating in the cytoplasm outside the Davis, California, in the middle of 2003. The first thing cell's nucleus. The floating mitochondria are like tiny | we discovered was how hard and dense its bone was. grains of sand in relation to the basketball-sized The geneticists had to struggle to cut it with a high- nucleus. speed Dremel blade that sawed through normal Mitochondria are passed down intact from generation to generation solely by females. They change only slightly over the centuries, with a mutation here and a mutation there, but by and large hey stay the same. Whether you are male or female, you have essentially the same mitochondria possessed by 100 or more generations in your family line, back to he first female in your line. Thus, they are easy to rack throughout the course of genetic testing. The DNA inside the nucleus of cells is much harder 0 recover intact than the DNA inside mitochondria because it is much larger and far more fragile and because there is so incredibly much more of it to degrade. Also, because it comes from both parents it is never the same in any two individuals. There will always be a large amount of mixing and matching of he base pairs, genes and chromosomes between couples who produce offspring. Each new mating is unique, and even identical twins will exhibit subtle variations. The Starchild's Mitochondrial DNA We took the Starchild skull to Trace Genetics in Davis, California, in the middle of 2003. The first thing we discovered was how hard and dense its bone was. The geneticists had to struggle to cut it with a high- speed Dremel blade that sawed through normal NEXUS ¢ 59 The Starchild skull, showing some of its external anomalies. APRIL - MAY 2009 www.nexusmagazine.com