CURRENT RESEARCH BEING CONDUCTED
In the summer of
2003 the Starchild's DNA was sequenced and analyzed by Trace Genetics, a
laboratory dedicated to the recovery of ancient DNA. (At 900 years of age, the
Starchild DNA is considered "ancient.") Two types of DNA were sought, its
mitochondrial DNA (which contains only the mother's DNA) and its nuclear DNA
(the entire genomic package that comes from both parents). Its mitochondrial DNA
was easy to recover and proved its mother was human. In six full attempts its
nuclear DNA could not be recovered. This was an overwhelming indication that its
father was something other than entirely human, but that was all that could be
determined by that process. What was needed, but was unavailable at the time,
was a test to recover the entire genome so the genetic heritage of both parents
could be recovered and studied in detail.
In the summer of 2006 a company called 454 Life Sciences (now a Roche Applied System company) announced it had developed entirely new technology that would allow the sequencing of an entire genome base-pair by base-pair, all three billion of them (in a typical human). This was exactly what was needed to establish the Starchild's genetic heritage, but the cost of analysis (multi-millions at that early point) put it well beyond the reach of the Starchild Project in 2006. However, everyone understood that improvements in the technology would drop the price over time, so the team accepted that testing could not be initiated until sometime in 2009 or 2010.
Now testing with the 454 Life Science technology is set to begin some
time in 2009. This testing will utilize the Genome Sequencer™
system, which is fully capable of recovering and sequencing the entire
genome of the Starchild Skull. When this result is obtained, its genome
can then be compared in every detail to other known genomes and the
question of its humanity can conclusively be resolved.