[Pharmboy]

It was denounced by some cultural anthropologists, who said that looking for genetic differences among populations was tantamount to racism.

No, you leftist idiots, it's just describing what's there.

This could be interesting...the findings may disturb more than just indigenous peoples.

[Pharmboy]

I love the smell of *PING* in the morning...

[reg45]

Once they have completed this study, we will have undeniable proof that everyone is of African descent. Then we can all put African-American on our affirmative action forms. Furthermore we can start calling everyone outside our immediate family - cousin.

[muawiyah]

Yes, the left will be really disturbed when their lineages are traced back to the Hellmouth in Sunnydale!

[JimSEA]

The program is an effort to accomplish the goals of the Human Genome Diversity Project, an initiative that was proposed by population geneticists in 1991. That project ran into a political furor that prevented it from receiving substantial government support. It was denounced by some cultural anthropologists, who said that looking for genetic differences among populations was tantamount to racism. And advocates for indigenous peoples portrayed it as a "vampire project" for extracting valuable medical information from the blood of endangered tribes while giving nothing in return.

Now, 14 years later, perhaps we can learn something if the left wing luddites don't create another "perfect storm". Of course, they still have not given up on Kennewick Man.

[carumba]

They should also document ancestry of these subjects. It is feasible and should lead back to a common progenitor somewhere. Like all us Anglos with ancestors in the British Isles come from a finite root stock. Somewhere back there in time only a few survived the dark ages, plagues, pestilence, famines, calamities, jousting tournaments and such.

[Cronos]

I don't see how they can find the lost homeland of the Indo-Europeans based on genetic traces. Linguistics would be the better option.

As for traces of Alexander: there are tribes in Kashmir that are practically Greeks

[mtbopfuyn]

No need for another study. It's all there in the LDS library and has been for at least a decade. Yep, someone had the gall to submit a lineage from Adam and Eve.

[Varda]

Yup, lots of groups have clashing ideas about human ancestry. I'm really looking forward to what they find.
Two books for anyone interested:
Dr. Jonathan Wells - The Journey of Man (easy to read)
Dr. Luca Cavalli-Sforza - The History and Geography of Human Genes (more technical but still fascinating to the layman)

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Pharmboy. "It was denounced by some cultural anthropologists, who said that looking for genetic differences among populations was tantamount to racism." I think the study is not going to be useful, but it isn't racist.

Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on, off, or alter the "Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list --
Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
The GGG Digest -- Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

[null and void]

This?

[CobaltBlue]

Way cool. I'm going to do it. Wonder if they are doing just mtDNA or Y-chromosome, too?

[afraidfortherepublic]

This sounds like a fascinating project. Male membersof part of my family have donn this cheek swab DNA test in attempt to differentiate themselves from another family of the same name. It seems to have worked. Neither family seems to have any common members, thus proving that they are two separate groups bearing the same name. Understandable, but confusing to their descendants.

[furball4paws]

"No, you leftist idiots, it's just describing what's there."

There is at least one other area that falls into this category - intelligence. The PC and left groups studiously avoid this area. But the evidence is clear - two people of above average intelligence have a better than 50-50 chance of having an above average intelligence child. There are many other factors, of course, but genetics plays a role.

Two major groups fight this, blacks and Jews. With blacks it is easy to understand since for many years they were considered inferior. My experience does not support this. But Jews are another question. I think it is because they have been picked on for millenia and don't wan't this kind of information to play a role or be distorted. Hitler thought Jews were inferior and he sought to prove it. Obviously that didn't work.

There was one study NAZI "Scientists" did that relates to this. They studied how Jews reacted to the following game (I may have the details wrong, but the gist is correct). Give a pair of dice. Tell the subject that when he/she rolls 6 identical rolls in a row, he will be taken out and shot (and of course, being NAZIs they followed through). Jews reacted in two ways. Some played as slowly as possible to stretch out the time. Others played rapidly as possible since they knew the ultimate outcome and presumably wanted "to get it over". Then they rounded up a couple of Nordic types (Norwegians I believe) and did the same thing to show the superiority of the Nordic races. Unfortunately for the NAZI "Scientists", the Nordics behaved the same way. Needless to say, that project was cancelled, and I believe it's mentor was also eliminated. How would you like to practice science in NAZI Germany or Stalinist Russia?

It is easy to see the resistance of these groups to this kind of information, but I think there should be a way of doing these studies without stirring up too much controversy.

I am looking forward to this study in your post. I am not happy with the National Geographic, but the data should be very revealing, if the crackpot spins that are sure to follow can be minimized.

[MortMan]

There once was a man named Adam,
With wife Eve and sons Able and Cain,
And a serpant who gave not a damn,
So they were pushed out of Eden, that's plain.

Their family beget families, and so on,
And it grew to outrival the sea,
Till a man named Noah built a boat, mon,
He set sail by the twos, not the threes.

But Lucy is everyone's auntie,
That's what digger-types like to say,
They can't 'splain how she got in the family,
But they claim she did, once, anyway!

Sorry if the frivolity is out of place. I'm just in a good mood, and a human race geneological tree sounded a bit odd to me.

[longtermmemmory]

I bet this "project" will be infultrated by some groups that want to establish genetic "imputirty" in OTHER cultures.

[LiteKeeper]

INTREP

[SunkenCiv]

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic ·
	Gods Graves Glyphs	Note: this topic is from April 2005. Blast from the Past. Already pinged it, just repinging it because blam FReepmailed me that National Geographic has a program Sunday, The Human Family Tree and reminded me that he and many other FReepers participated in the study by submitting DNA. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
·Dogpile · Archaeologica · ArchaeoBlog · Archaeology · Biblical Archaeology Society · · Discover · Nat Geographic · Texas AM Anthro News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · Google · · The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·

[SunkenCiv]

• A Family Tree in Every Gene [Races DO Exist: NYT]
• OPRAH: My DNA Says I'm A Zulu (we're not making this up!)
• The Genographic Project (Have Your DNA Checked, Find Your Roots)
• Find Your Paternal-Line Relatives With Y-Chromosome Matches On Line

[LiteKeeper]

What are the odds they won’t start with either Adam, or Noah?