Hypervariable region

A hypervariable region (HVR) is a location within nuclear DNA or the D-loop of mitochondrial DNA in which base pairs of nucleotides repeat. Repeats in the hypervariable region are highly polymorphic.

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Genetic genealogy

There are two hypervariable regions used in human mitochondrial genealogical DNA testing. HVR1 is considered a "low resolution" region and HVR2 is considered a "high resolution" region. Getting HVR1 and HVR2 DNA tests can help determine one's haplogroup.

HVR1 locations are numbered 16001-16568. HVR2 locations are numbered 001-574.

See also

• Human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup
• Genealogical DNA test
• Cambridge Reference Sequence