Miklós Kásler - Zoltán Szentirmay (szerk.): Identifying the Árpád Dynasty Skeletons Interred in the Matthias Church. Applying data from historical, archaeological, anthropological, radiological, morphological, radiocarbon dating and genetic research (Budapest, 2021)
CHAPTER SEVEN – Genetic investigations
2. Scientific background on the study of STR markers Repeating (microsatellite) short sequences that can be found in the genome in great numbers are called STR (Short Tandem Repeat). The repeats are made of several ( 1 -6) DNA bases, and the STRs typically consist of 5-50 repeats. The variants of a given STR marker, containing a different number of repeats are called alleles. STR markers have two main types, autosomal markers and Y-chromosome markers. Autosomal STR (A-STR) markers. These markers are located on the somatic chromosomes (called autosomes); thus an individual inherits one allele from the father and one from the mother. The alleles from the distinct parental sources may differ from each other in length (i.e. in the number of repeats). Sometimes the successor inherits parental alleles with very little difference from the marker alleles of either the fathers or the mother s side, and therefore, they allow us to trace family relations. In Figure 28, we display the A-STR markers chromosomal loci and one of the potential hereditary patterns of the D13S317 marker. The alleles are marked by a number on the figure, these are the numbers of the repeats. An A-STR DNA database has existed since 1995 in the United Kingdom, while the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) created a national DNA database on October 13,1998. This database contained over 1.5 million A-STR DNA sequences by the end of 2003 and is known as Combined DNA Index System, abbreviated to CODIS. This system was copied by 22 DNA laboratories and out of the possible microsatellite sequences they chose the 13 A-STR sequences which can be used for personal identification in everyday use. These are the following: D13S317, D21S11, D18S51, THO1, D5S818, FGA, D16S539, CFS 1 PO, D7S820, 119
