Editing Roanoke Colony (section)

===2005–2019: Genetic analysis===
Since 2005, computer scientist Roberta Estes has founded several organizations for [[DNA]] analysis and genealogical research. Her interest in the disappearance of the 1587 colony motivated various projects to establish a genetic link between the colonists and potential Native American descendants. Examining [[Autosome|autosomal DNA]] for this purpose is unreliable, as so little of the colonists' genetic material would remain after five or six generations. However, testing of [[Y chromosome]]s and [[mitochondrial DNA]] is more reliable over large spans of time. The main challenge of this work is to obtain a genetic point of comparison, either from the remains of a Lost Colonist or one of their descendants. While it is conceivable to sequence DNA from 430-year-old bones, there are as yet no bones from the Lost Colony to work with. And, as of 2019, the project had yet to identify any living descendant.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|pp=311–314}}