Question

My wife passed away 4/23/2021 can you use her hair to extract DNA?

Comments

Comment rather than answer 'cause I haven't actually checked any of the consumer DNA sites, but I believe the short answer is "no".

The primary reason is that hair strands (and fingernails) contain no DNA whatsoever. (Hair follicles do contain DNA, but you only get those if the hair was pulled out "roots and all".)

The other reason is that the consumer DNA companies are only set up to deal with one of two types of samples: saliva or cheek swab.

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There are consumer sites that will test for DNA from hair, but you need several strands with the follicle and even then there is a good chance that the test will fail. (Unlike the swab tests.) And if it fails, you have to gather more hair with follicles. Usually, it's for things like paternity, I have no idea if they are able to give you raw DNA data for genealogy.

Answer 1

Maybe you can try to request to funeral home to see if they have your wife’s record with DNA.

Answer 2

https://www.totheletterdna.com/envelopes-faqs - Though I think they are working on their procedures to lower cost. It can be pricey...

Answer 3

TotheletterDNA and KeepsakeDNA are two companies that offer testing of genetic artifacts, and presumably will move to increase the types of services offered.

It is possible to extract autosomal DNA even from hair with no roots attached, but that is a very recent innovation and not commercially viable yet.

Blaine Bettinger made a video last year about the state of hair testing back then:

https://news.legacyfamilytree.com/legacy_news/2020/08/new-techzone-video-dna-testing-of-hair-for-genealogy-by-blaine-bettinger-phd-jd.html

Answer 4

Condolences on your loss. As mentioned the root is needed... I guess forensically they will check for hairbrushes in the hope of finding such hairs. Lacking that, potential daughters, sisters or nieces, followed by sons and nephews would at least give in idea. Best wishes.

Answer 5

I'd guess that testing your wife's living relatives would be much more cost-effective than the artifact testing that's available today.  And the older relatives would be most useful.  Of course, I don't know your particular circumstances, but from the birth date on your profile, I'd think it possible that your wife's parents are still living.  They would be my first choice, and if by any chance you could test them both, that would make up for missing out on the chance to test your wife.  Next best would be aunts and uncles, then siblings, then (first) cousins.