DNA testing for the purposes of the experiment

According to DNA test results, World War Two Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler is though to have African and Jewish genes inherited from ancestors.
In the DNA tests carried out, results showed that saliva samples taken from thirty nine relatives of Hitler showed he could well have been biologically linked to what he referred to as the “subhuman” races which he attempted to wipe out during the devastating Holocaust which he was at the helm of.
Marc Vermeeren, a historian and Jean-Paul Mulders, a Belgian journalist, traced the Fuhrer’s relatives including an Austrian farmer –Hitler’s cousin, early on in 2010.
Haplogroup E1b1b1 is the chromosome which showed up in their samples – a rarity in Western Europe, but more commonly found amongst the Berbers of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, as well as with Sephardic Jews and Ashkenazi.
The Haplogroup E1b1b1 relates to eighteen to twenty per cent of Ashkenazi Jews and eight point six per cent to thirty per cent of Sephardic Y-chromosomes seems to be one of the main founding extractions of the Jewish world population in general.
In Belgian magazine Knack, Mulders wrote that, "One can from this postulate that Hitler was related to people whom he despised”. The magazine, in which the findings of the DNA test were published, stated that the DNA testing for the purposes of the experiment was carried out under strict laboratory regulations. Roddy Decorte, a genetic specialist bases at the Catholic University of Leuven called the results “surprising”, saying that “"The affair is fascinating if one compares it with the conception of the world of the Nazis, in which race and blood was central.”
According to the results of the DNA tests, Hitler was not, as he perceived himself to be, “Aryan” or “pure”, a term which was used by the Nazi party to suggest generally Caucasian, fair haired and blue eyed people. People suspected to be homosexual, Jewish or black amongst numerous other social, cultural religious and racial groups were ostracized from society according to Nazi law, resulting in the terrible atrocities of the Holocaust.
However, the results of the DNA test are not the first time it has been suggested that Hitler has Jewish ancestry. It is thought that Hitler’s father Alois, is the illegitimate offspring of a maid, Maria Schickelgruber and a young Jewish man, Frankenberger.
The process used to carry out the DNA tests is known as Genealogy, which uses samples such as buccal swabs (large cotton bud-like instruments used for gathering DNA samples in the form of cheek cells from the inside of the mouth) This form of DNA testing has become popular in recent years as people use it to determine their ancestral lineage. Other forms of DNA testing are also used to determine more immediate relations, such as paternity testing.

The results of the DNA tests

According to US researchers, a basic DNA test taken at Stanford University could be used to predict the most effective food plan for a person on a diet, revealing whether a low carbohydrate or low fat diet will produce the most successful weight loss results.
Results taken from a small primary study of 101Caucasian women showed that the women who were on the diet that was considered the best for their individual genetic make up lost 2-3 times more weight than the other subjects.
The results of the DNA tests, which were presented at an American Heart Association conference, were considered inconclusive by experts, who stated that further investigation should be taken.
Nutrigenomics and nutrigenetics is an emerging aspect of DNA test which looks into the interaction of different foods with various gene types.
Historically, people have been aware for sometime that different humans have different reactions to certain foods depending on their genetic makeup, for example lactose intolerance, which is more common among African and Asian people than among Northern Europeans. In DNA testing, dietary treatments based on the results have been implemented in the reduction of disease risk in a number of cases. Past nutritional research placed a lot of emphasis on how deficiencies in various nutrients affected health. Now with nutrigenomics, more emphasis is placed on the optimisation of personal diet to optimise nutritional benefit and to help prevent illness.
The DNA testing explored how efficiently people with different genes managed to lose weight on a variety of weight loss diets.
The DNA test was taken using buccal or cheek swabs taken from the 101 women, who all undertook different diets over the course of a year. The diets were either low fat, very low fat, low in protein or carbohydrate or simply low carbohydrate. Those who were on a diet which was a good match with their genetic makeup found that they lost 2-3 times more weight over the 12 month period in comparison with those who were on an “incompatible” diet.
The group of women were divided into three genotypes. The first was a balanced diet responsive genotype, the second was a low carbohydrate diet responsive, and the third was a low fat diet responsive.
The researchers responded to the DNA tests by saying that the results were only introductory, and much more study would need to be carried out before the results could be used on a commercial basis. Professor Christine Williams of the University of Reading said of the DNA testing carried out in the study: “This is a very intriguing study –though very small.”, going on to suggest that more conclusive results could be reached if researchers could gain a better understanding of the genes involved. However, she also stated that the DNA test correlated with much of the research carried out at Reading, where it was discovered that some subjects responded better to certain fats such as omega 3.

The process of carrying out a DNA test

Deoxyribonucleic acid, other wise known as DNA, forms the genetic blueprint for every living organism on the planet. In a sense, one human being is indistinguishable from another in terms of DNA similarity; however there are a few minor exceptions which mean that some humans are more similar to others as they are connected as families or “blood relations”. To explain: 99.9% of human DNA sequences are the same in each individual, however there is enough DNA to be able to differentiate one person from another. In DNA testing, repeat or repetitive sequences are used which are highly variable, known as variable number tandem repeats or VNTR –loci which are highly similar between two persons related to one another –so similar that unrelated humans are very unlikely to have the same variable number tandem repeats as the relations.
It is this form of DNA which is often used for DNA testing, which has a number of different applications. The process of carrying out a DNA testor DNA profiling as it is also known was first described by Sir Alec Jeffreys for the University of Leicester. It now forms the basis for many national DNA databases. Jeffreys also pioneered the genetic fingerprinting technique, which was made commercially available at chemical company ICI in 1987 when the company opened a centre for blood testing.
Genealogy is a common form of DNA test which has recently been popularised by the current trend for tracing a person’s origins through birth, death and marriage records online. However, this method of tracing one’s ancestry can be fairly limited due to records running out or missing altogether, and as a result many are turning to DNA tests in order to trace their genetic lineage.
DNA testing is also used to determine more recent family ties, for example in paternity and maternity testing. This form of DNA test normally involves a buccal swab taken of each subject prior to being taken to the lab to be compared and contrasted. These DNA tests are also used for other family methods and also for twin or zygosity testing.
Samples for DNA tests can be taken from anywhere on the human body. Common samples which are used include blood samples, saliva, skin cells, hair and sperm samples. These are often collected at crime scenes to provide legal evidence, as are fingerprints, which are directly related to the individual makeup of a person’s DNA. There has been some speculation as to whether a criminal would be able to plant “fake” DNA at the scene of a crime (Which has previously been attempted), but according to scientists, in order for this to be able to cover a criminal’s tracks sufficiently, they would need a wealth of laboratory equipment and a lab technician or engineer on hand.