mtDNA Testing Facilities

[evansste]

I'm interested in performing a mitochondrial DNA test on a bone sample, but am having trouble finding labs that actually perform this type of test. I want to perform a test on the sample in order to see whether or not the sample belongs to my mother. So, technically, this would be a paternity test.

 

If you perform an Internet search on paternity testing, you'll get a ton of hits that give facilities that will perform swab DNA tests. These are the types of tests that most people use in order to identify a baby's father. We have no shortage of those facilities. But when it comes to mtDNA testing on a bone sample, the closest one I could find is on the other side of the country. Are these testing facilities really this rare, or am I simply having trouble finding them because the father paternity market has saturated search engines so much that they're the only thing that comes up when a person performs a search?

 

I'm hoping that someone in the genetics industry has knowledge about this sort of thing. The sample would be tested in Louisville, Kentucky and I'm trying to find out if there are any facilities that do this type of testing in that area.

 

As I've said before, yellow pages, and Internet searches are useless. They only list facilities that test saliva swabs, or maybe hair samples. I need to test bone. Is there only one private lab in the entire country that does this, or are there many labs, which are only known to those who work in the DNA genetics community?

 

Thanks for your time, and I appreciate any insight that any knowledgeable person is willing to give.