Today, almost everyone has heard about DNA analysis from crime shows on television. It’s how the police catch bad guys. But it can also be a way to find good guys. Since the 1990s, the remains of U.S. soldiers have been positively identified through enhanced procedures using mitochondrial DNA, which provides information about maternal lineage. In 2008 and 2009, for instance, the remains of U.S. Vietnam pilots who have been missing in action since the late 1960s and Operation Desert Storm pilots who have been missing since 1991 were positively identified using mitochondrial DNA analysis. The same process is also being used to identify the remains of more than 250 British and Australian World War I veterans discovered in a mass grave outside of Fromelles, France, and to successfully identify remains from conflicts dating back to the American Civil War. This book helps to unravel the mysteries of the science of DNA, chromosomes, and genes, as well as to bring to the forefront current methods and theories of genetic inquiry.

Humans have long been aware that various plants and animals seemed to have similarities in form and function to the “parents.” Ancient peoples used this understanding in daily life; for example, mating male and female animals with superior characteristics to create new generations with improved physical traits. These early observations under lie a process that many centuries later came to be known as heredity.