Oakland scientist asked to help nun become a saint

[Maxirad]

sfgate.com/science/article/Oakland-scientist-asked-to-help-nun-become-a-saint-5240888.php

 

[Coatimundi]

The story is a about some unusual scientific sleuthing.

To advance Sister Marija Krucifiksa Kozulic’s cause for canonization, officials need to examine her remains. However, she was buried in the catacombs along with other nuns of her convent. Over the years, the caskets deteriorated and the bones of the various nuns were mixed together. DNA analysis offered a way forward. But, conventional DNA analysis wouldn’t work, since the bones were so degraded that good samples of DNA could not be extracted from the nucleus of the cells.

However, s rarefied form of DNA analysis may work. It would use DNA from the mitochondria of the cells, and not the DNA from the cell’s nucleus.

Quoting from the article:

Mitochondrial DNA is found in mitochondria, the tiny engines that provide energy to every cell. There are hundreds to thousands of mitochondria in every cell, each with its own collection of DNA, compared with only two copies of DNA found in the nucleus.

Because nuclear DNA is unique to every individual, scientists prefer it for identification. But nuclear DNA is easily damaged through the decaying process and not as widely available as mitochondrial DNA.

“It’s not as informative as nuclear DNA. But it’s a tool of last resort if we have degraded and limited material,” [Cassandra] Calloway said.

Mitochondrial DNA is shared by the offspring of each woman. So by comparing the mitochondria of the catacomb bones with the mitochondria of the nun’s siblings, researchers and Vatican officials hope to identify the remains of Sr. Marija. Her brother’s bones have already been located.

Analyzing all the bones in a catacomb sounds like a lot of work. But the task is even harder than you might think. Sr. Marija and her siblings, both her brother and her sister, will all share the same mitochondrial DNA. The sister also happened to be a nun at the same convent, and her bones are mixed in with all the others. So how will it be possible to determine which bones came from Sr. Marija and which ones belong to her sister?

At this point, anthropologists will step in. The convent kept records on all its nuns, so there are good physical descriptions of what each looked like when alive. Sr. Marija was taller than average and may have suffered from scoliosis. With that knowledge, the researchers will compare the size and shape of the bones which have already been identified as having the same mitochondrial DNA. The scientific team hopes this will enable them to conclusively identify which bones belong to the possible saint.

Whew! Its an interdisciplinary as well as an international effort. Medical forensics with a cause and for a cause.