Posted on 09/06/2020 7:43:27 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
"One of the individuals - a little boy actually - ...had three copies of Chromosome 21. So, he would have had Down syndrome. And, yeah, that was unexpected and quite a moving little glimpse into the world of somebody with a disability in the very, very deep past," Cassidy said.
The research team puts the discovery at between 4,000 and 6,000 years old, making it the oldest known case of Down's Syndrome in the world...
"What we do, basically, is we powderise that [the petrous temporal bone in the inner ear] and we put the powder in solution and try to isolate DNA from it. And if you're lucky, some of that DNA is going to be coming from the ancient individual in question and not bacteria in the environment."
Cassidy was the lead author of a research paper published in the National Scientific Journal in June, which argued that the infant was breastfed and well taken care of.
Furthermore, his skull and eyes were a distinctive size and shape consistent with children with Down's Syndrome. The child died at the age of six months, according to the research paper.
The research team also found evidence of first-degree incest at the more famous megalithic structure at Newgrange in County Meath.
"We could actually tell that his parents were either full siblings or parent and child. So, he was the son of first-degree incest," Cassidy told Tubridy.
She explained that, while incest is taboo now and has been taboo throughout human history, royals at elites would have interbred to keep power within a particular kin group.
Elites often used incest to separate themselves from the general public, legitimize their power and intensify hierarchy...
(Excerpt) Read more at irishcentral.com ...
I assume they also found the alcoholic chromosome... I always attribute my affection for Jameson to my Irish ancestry. Thank God for Grandma.
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My ancestors all came from The Emerald Isle. Unfortunately they didn’t leave the alcohol gene behind. But I survived it.
I guess incest is OK, then, as long as its kept in the family.
*ducking and running*
;o]
'Face
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