Mitochondrial DNA to establish matrilinear descent

[Sjoerd]

Organelles are cellular compartments with a specific function. Mitochondria are organelles that specialize in "burning" nutrients to produce chemical energy. Mitochondria are descendants of bacteria, and they contain their own DNA. When a sperm fertilizes an egg, the sperm's mitochondria are destroyed, leaving only the mitochondria from the egg.Therefore, all of your mitochondria come from your mother, and mitochondrial DNA can be used to establish matrilinear descent over very long periods.

Mitrochondrial DNA studies have shown that the Jewish gene pool is largely of Middle-Eastern origin, and also that half of the Ashkenazi Jews are the descendants of only four women.

Now I have two questions:

- Would mitochondrial DNA research be accepted as evidence that someone is Jewish?

- If so, what about Palestinians? What if they turn out to be mostly of Twelve Tribes Israelite descent? Would that make them Jewish? Could they invoke the Right of Return?

[RightKnowledge999]

Deleted by Moderator.

This post was off-topic, and cut and pasted from a banned member of another site: http://www.christiandoctrinediscussion. ... ion-7.html