[wonders]

(feeling really dumb, here)

Duh! Now I get what you're asking! Sorry. My understanding was the hair root DNA was degraded so that only 12 of 13 loci from the root were available for testing against the DNA extracted from the rib.

And thanks for posting my comments! My apologies again for my dumb mistake there. Guess I'm tired.

Now, it seems to me, the hair may well have been in the sink trap for some time for the root's DNA to be degraded in that manner, but I'm no expert on such and don't stand on that at all.

I hope this answers your question. If not, please let me know and I'll try to explain further.

[small_l_libertarian]

That's why I am trying to find out how long it would take for the DNA in hair to degrade - she was supposedly in the motorhome less than a week before they found that hair!

So, if it's degraded, and it takes more than a few days for the DNA in the cells in/on the root to degrade, then it must be an old hair.