Review our Science Writing and News Reports on DNA Testing and Popular Genetics
Neanderthals: The First Artists?
With all the news about Neanderthals being superior to Homo sapiens sapiens and teaching “us” how to survive in the distant Stone Age, it is perhaps appropriate to ask whether Neanderthals were the first artists? Or among the first artists? The idea seems shocking.
My husband and I just had a good laugh reading over your “You Might Be Melungeon If . . . “ article. It inspired me to write up a few “real-life” examples from my own family. These are individual experiences of myself, my mother or my sister.
As soon as EURO DNA was released last month I quickly studied my new list of European nationalities where I have significant ancestral lines according to DNA Consultants’ new autosomal population analysis. I had come to know and accept, of course, the usual suspects, compiled from the 24 populations available from ENFSI (European Network of Forensic Science Institutes)
Where Do I Come from: Shawn
Real People’s DNA Stories
Ethnicity Beyond European Migration
By Shawn
My journey into DNA testing began with my desire to expand on my known heritage, while clarifying debated Jewish ancestry. What I have found in return is that my ancestral paper trail only uncovers a small portion of the blood that runs through my veins. My DNA Consultants results, for the most part were quite surprising. My European matches were fairly consistent with my country origins on paper and surrounding areas. The major surprise, however, was that my number one European match was Romani/Gypsy and my number 10 match was Czech Republic….
Thank you to Donald Panther-Yates and the DNA Consultants staff for the prompt return of my Melungeon DNA Fingerprint results. Several weeks ago, I had never even heard the word “Melungeon.” In preparation for an upcoming genealogy research trip, I just happened to go on amazon.com and read the introduction to Dr. Yates’ book: Old World Roots of the Cherokee. I was tremendously excited to see a description of the terms “Black Irish” and “Black Dutch.”
I took my first test with Family Tree in 2006. This test showed my mtDNA as L3e2b2 and it went like this: 52% West African, 39% European, 9% EAST ASIAN, 0% Native American
I could not believe the East Asian part, and I shrugged it off and thought—that has to be Native American.
Part Three of a Series. We interviewed one of Chromosomal Labs Bode Technology’s senior staff members, Director of Sales and Marketing Jim Bentley, to get his perspective on industry changes over the past thirty-five-plus years. Jim Bentley.
Can someone patent your DNA? Not anymore. It sounds Kafkaesque, but this practice has been business as usual in certain companies for three decades according to Jesse Holland in his AP article, “Court says Human Genes Cannot Be Patented.” This month the Supreme Court unanimously voted to deny patents on unaltered human DNA. The action invalidates more than 5,000 patents. Yet the court opted to approve patents on genetically altered DNA. Just what is the difference, and what does it mean for consumers?
What if the real King Arthur was not the Christian hero we immediately think of but a pagan or Jew? Not a comedic King Arthur like the one inMonty Python and the Holy Grail whose possible worst peril was to battle knights who say “Ni.” Or T.H. White’s delightful and imaginary medieval England in “The Once and Future King,” where Arthur as a boy was turned into various creatures like a hawk by Merlin, so that he could learn to fly. That is clearly fantasy. So is Sean Connery as an older Arthur in The First Knight whose adversary is the philosophical Richard Gere as Lancelot.
And Her Name Was Pomponia Graecina
The following excerpt is taken from Elizabeth C. Hirschman and Donald N. Yates, The Early Jews and Muslims of England and Wales: A Genetic and Genealogical History (forthcoming Summer 2013 from McFarland & Co. Publishers).
