Read reviews of science articles, new research and news reports on ancestry testing, ancient DNA and popular genetics
If anyone thinks the ancient citizens of Mexico were dumb bunnies or primitive pagans, please read this prayer translated from Uto-Aztecan. Its rhetoric, wisdom and stylistic power is palpable today.
Hundreds of antiquarian maps and the artist’s own colored drawings enhance the value of the work. An example is on p. 32, “Nagoochee Valley, Detail of Jacques LeMoyne Map.” An important map of the author’s own creation on p. 30 is entitled, “Ethnic Groups Living on the South Atlantic Coast before the Arrival of the Spanish.”
More than 26 million DNA samples have been collected since the new field of commercialized personal genomics was announced with a big splash in the pages of the journal NATURE over thirteen years ago.
The Audience Given by the Trustees of Georgia to a Delegation of Creek Indians of 1734-35 illustrates a common pitfall of historical research. Clues to the big picture sometimes hide in the frame of history. Marginalized communities and fragile ethnic identities often have a role out of proportion to their small numbers.
The monograph on the third and final phase of Cherokee DNA Studies and “anomalous” Cherokees with non-ABCD mitochondrial lineages by Donald and Teresa Yates continues to be delayed.
The Savannah, Ga. poet Conrad Aiken and his wife saw a freighter in the harbor on their morning walk. The name of the ship was “Cosmos Mariner.” Looking it up in the day’s Shipping News, they learned it was bound for “Destination Unknown.”
Childhood’s a time when curiosity flourishes, exploration consumes the waking hours, and sharing discoveries with friends and family brings eager delights.
One of our most common seafaring markers is the Odin Gene. The name Odin may be related to Odysseus. The Odin Gene is centered on Scandinavia and extends to the Sea People and Phoenicians of the East Mediterranean and travels of Wotan in the Americas and Pacific Rim. It contradicts the supposition of geneticists that early man moved only across landmasses and waterways were barriers.
Genetic analysis of Mal’ta Boy and his culture has contributed to a long debate about the origins of Native North Americans. It was found that these Ice Age Siberians had deep ancestry that connected them to Western Eurasians, while they were also ancestors of Native North Americans. More surprisingly, the Mal’ta people appeared to have no direct ancestry connecting them to present-day East Asians
The oldest of our seven new markers in the revised Rare Genes from History is The Goddess Gene. It dates back to Paleolithic times and is so ancient is has mutated into two forms. We check for both of these and report whether you have it if you take the Rare Genes from History test, which is based on your Autosomal DNA Profile, the same marker set used for our DNA Fingerprint Plus ancestry test.
