title: Titanic's unknown child: the critical role of the mitochondrial DNA coding region in a re-identification effort.
abstract: This report describes a re-examination of the remains of a young male child recovered in the Northwest Atlantic following the loss of the Royal Mail Ship Titanic in 1912 and buried as an unknown in Halifax, Nova Scotia shortly thereafter. Following exhumation of the grave in 2001, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) hypervariable region 1 sequencing and odontological examination of the extremely limited skeletal remains resulted in the identification of the child as Eino Viljami Panula, a 13-month-old Finnish boy. This paper details recent and more extensive mitochondrial genome analyses that indicate the remains are instead most likely those of an English child, Sidney Leslie Goodwin. The case demonstrates the benefit of targeted mtDNA coding region typing in difficult forensic cases, and highlights the need for entire mtDNA sequence databases appropriate for forensic use.
authors.affiliation: Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, 1413 Research Blvd., Rockville, MD 20850, USA.
authors.forename: Rebecca S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Just
authors.forename: Odile M
authors.initials: OM
authors.lastname: Loreille
authors.forename: J Eldon
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Molto
authors.forename: D Andrew
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Merriwether
authors.forename: Scott R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Woodward
authors.forename: Carney
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Matheson
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Creed
authors.forename: Stacey E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: McGrath
authors.forename: Kimberly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sturk-Andreaggi
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Coble
authors.forename: Jodi A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Irwin
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ruffman
authors.forename: Ryan L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Parr
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D018732:Forensic Anthropology / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial