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Indigenous people
resist DNA-project
Genographic research as
neo-colonial attitude
28.04.2005
Medical News Briefs By Marietta Gross
The ambitious DNA profiling "Genographic project" (See..
http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic
) which seeks to retrace the path of human settlement on Earth has
been encountering resistance among indigenous people. After a
boycott-appeal by the US-American Indigenous Peoples Council on
Biocolonialism
http://www.ipcb.org
, now some Maori and African First Nations have also announced
concerns over the project .
The project which seeks to find the settlement of the Blue Planet
beginning from Africa by means of genetic samples of several 100,000
inhabitants was started in April by IBM and the science magazine
National Geographic. The main point of criticism by native people is
the argument, that the research is in effect a modern form of
colonialism, explained Paul Reynolds from the Maori Research Centre at
Auckland University.
"Indigenous people already have a history of their origin which
was communicated over generations by their ancestors. Further
scientific proofs are thus decrepit."
Additionally the Maori see the extraction of DNA-samples as Tapu,
meaning sacred or restricted.
Spencer Wells who is responsible for the five-year-project with an
estimated cost of US$40 million dollars doesn't see these worries. He
wants to track the accurate migration route of the human species, who
probably settled the Earth beginning from Africa 200,000 years ago.
Recent research suggests a volcanic eruption in Sumatra decimated the
species Homo Sapiens to only 2,000 individuals 70,000 years ago.
The ambitious project in which every citizen can volunteer - the
equipment for the DNA-saliva costs inclusive mailing expenses $137
Dollar - is primarily interested in indigenous people who are living
in isolation. Wells had detected the descendants of Genghis Khan in
Northern Pakistan by means of genetic analyses.
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Wanted: DNA To Track Roots of
Family Tree
April 18, 2005 12:07PM
If scientists are right, all 6 billion people living on the planet
today have ancestors who lived in Africa a long time ago. That concept
has prompted some scientists to suggest that an African “Adam and
Eve” - or at least a small group of genetically similar
hunter-gatherers lie at the base of what is now a many-branched human
family tree.
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The National Geographic
Society has begun what may be the ultimate search for human roots. For
$99.95 and a swab of spit, anyone can join in and get a whole new
perspective on the family tree.
The society last week launched a five-year project to seek the origins
of the human species and map the migration of ancient peoples out of
Africa as they populated the globe.
The $40 million Genographic Project will collect blood samples from
100,000 indigenous peoples throughout the world, analyze them for
genetic markers and try to determine their geographic origins.
”Our DNA tells a fascinating story of the human journey, how we are
all related and how our ancestors got to where we are today,” says
population geneticist Spencer Wells, who will head the project.
To generate public interest, Geographic is also offering a test kit
that will allow anyone to take a swab of saliva and send it to a
laboratory for DNA analysis. For assisting in the project’s finances,
participants will get a “personalized genetic analysis,” a peek at
their “deep ancestral history” - and assurances of totalprivacy.
The kits can be ordered at www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic.
Individual test results are expected to take about six weeks.
Lest anyone be seeking proof that their ancestors came over on the
Mayflower, National Geographic cautions that the test will “not
provide names for your personal family tree or tell you where your
great-grandparents lived.” The society does promise, however, that
everyone will get a genetic profile that will tell them something
about their “deep ancestors.”
Really deep. Most fossil evidence suggests that modern humans appeared
in Africa between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago and began migrating to
other continents about 60,000 years ago.
Some scientists say there was a single migration, some say more. Asia,
Europe and Australia were the next to be populated. The Americas were
the last.
If scientists are right, all 6 billion people living on the planet
today have ancestors who lived in Africa a long time ago. That concept
has prompted some scientists to suggest that an African “Adam and
Eve” - or at least a small group of genetically similar
hunter-gatherers lie at the base of what is now a many-branched human
family tree.
”We have some indications from prior studies about the migration of
people in the last 50,000 to 10,000 years,” says Ajay Royyuru of
IBM’s Computational Biology Center, which is collaborating on the
project.
”What’s missing is the detail, the ability for everyone on the
planet to be able to see, understand, exactly how they got to be where
they are.”
Ten research centers around the world will receive funding from the
Waitt Family Foundation—founded by Gateway computer magnate Ted
Waitt—to collect and analyze the DNA samples.
Each individual, from hair color to susceptibility to certain diseases,
is the result of the unique combination of their parents’ genetic
code.
But some genetic material, the male Y chromosome and maternally
inherited mitochondrial DNA, is passed to the succeeding generations
essentially unchanged, except for rare natural mutations that enable
researchers to identify lineages extending back for thousands of years.
”Once a particular marker appears by mutation in a man, all of his
descendants will also carry that marker,” Wells says.
”If we compile information on a large set of markers and project
them back in time using computer algorithms, the trail of mutations
coalesces in a single Y-chromosome whose owner lived between 40,000 to
140,000 years ago in Africa.”
Because that mutation, named M94, is now carried by every man on the
planet, Wells likes to call this man “Genetic Adam.” But even he
concedes the term may be misleading. He says there were certainly
other humans living at the same time. Their lineages simply didn’t
make it to the present.
Subsequent random mutations define later branches of the human family
tree: lineages that crept out of Africa into Mesopotamia, some that
headed east to Asia, and others that moved north, with the advent of
agriculture, into the Caucasus and Europe.
American Indians still carry marker mutations that first occurred
among the natives of Siberia, and their genetic fingerprints came with
them when their ancestors crossed the Bering Strait more than 12,000
years ago.
Wells says the dozens of other random mutations that have accumulated
in the DNA of contemporary humans - in addition to Genetic Adam’s
M94 mutation - constitute a kind of genetic fingerprint that can
reveal whether their distant ancestors passed through the Middle East
or the land bridge from Siberia or crossed the ocean from Europe to
America.
Initial efforts to use DNA to track human migrations, a project headed
a few years ago by Stanford University population geneticist Luca
Cavalli-Sforza, sampled the DNA from 52 indigenous groups and found
five clusters of lineages that closely matched their ancestors’
continent of origin.
With a goal of collecting more than 100,000 DNA samples representing
every indigenous group on the planet, the National Geographic effort
hopes to paint a much more detailed picture of human migration.
The society also hopes to avoid the political fuss that, more than a
decade ago, prompted the federal government to withdraw support for a
similar project that was intended to study the human genome.
Unlike the federally funded effort, which was criticized for overtones
of racism in looking for genetic differences among populations,
National Geographic will not gather any information on genetic
diseases and will make all of its anthropological data freely
available.
Wells says he feels a sense of urgency in the project.
He says as political upheavals, environmental disruption and air
travel prompt more people to move, the world is becoming less
genetically diverse. Indigenous populations in particular are under
pressure.
”We need to take a genetic snapshot of who we are as a species
before the geographic and cultural context are lost in the melting pot,”
he says.
© 2005 Cox News Service.
© 2005 Top Tech News.
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New DNA project to trace human
migrations
By Jason Motlagh
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
Washington, DC, Apr. 18 (UPI) The National Geographic Society and IBM
Corp. have launched a joint five-year study to attempt to trace
definitively the migratory history of the human species using DNA
analysis.
The Genographic Project is a non-profit research partnership in which
a team of international scientists, spearheaded by Spencer Wells, a
National Geographic explorer-in-residence, will gather genetic samples
to map and analyze how Earth was populated.
"We see this as the 'moon shot' of anthropology, using genetics
to fill in the gaps in our knowledge of human history," Wells
said.
He said more than 100,000 DNA samples will be gathered from indigenous
groups and the global public to be analyzed at 10 research centers
worldwide. The project is expected to reveal details that provide a
new understanding of the connections and differences that make up the
human species.
"National Geographic has been exploring and mapping the world for
117 years," said John Fahey, the society's president and chief
executive officer. "This is the biggest thing of its kind we have
ever done. The field science work ... will go into a virtual museum of
human history."
Fahey said that unlike the Human Genome Project, this collaboration
has no medical objectives and is "at its core a historical and
anthropological project."
The resulting database is expected to become a vital resource for
geneticists, historians and anthropologists seeking answers to age-old
questions about the genetic diversity of species Homo sapiens.
"The more we can improve our understanding of the common origin
and journey of humankind, the greater the possibility for all of us to
see each other as members of the same family," said Ted Waitt,
founder of the Waitt Family Foundation, one of the project's
underwriters. "I believe this is vital at a time when people tend
to emphasize differences."
One of the Genographic Project's core components involves field
research. Scientists will collect blood samples from indigenous
populations whose DNA has remained relatively unaltered over hundreds
of generations. The samples should serve as reliable indicators of
ancient migratory patterns.
The project also encourages public participation, inviting individuals
to purchase a DNA-sampling kit for $99 and submit cheek swabs for
analysis. The kit purchase and sample submission entitles participants
to obtain information about their own migratory histories and track
the project's overall progress securely online.
This way, a person can "understand his (or her) connection to
people around the world -- that we are all linked to each other by a
genetic thread, and that our threads are interwoven through the
migration of our ancestors," Wells said.
Fahey noted that people had purchased 1,200 kits within the first few
days of availability on the National Geographic's Web site.
Some of the proceeds from the sale of the genographic kits will fund
the Legacy Project, designed to support education and cultural
preservation among indigenous groups.
The project builds on a body of work by Wells that includes a book and
a television documentary -- both titled "The Journey of Man: A
Genetic Odyssey." He said the goal is to capture a "genetic
snapshot" of human diversity before it is permanently erased by
the homogenizing effects of globalization.
"Our DNA carries a story that is shared by everyone," he
said. "We'll be deciphering that story, which is now in danger of
being lost as people migrate and mix to a much greater extent than
they have in the past."
Wells explained that as people increasingly move to urban centers,
diverse native languages that are critical markers to understanding
migratory histories are disappearing. Of the roughly 6,000 languages
reported to be practiced worldwide, one is said to be lost every two
weeks. Some have estimated that over 50 percent will vanish by 2050.
When asked what he saw as the effort's primary possible outcomes, Ajay
Royyuru, IBM's lead scientist on the project, said he hoped to build a
statistical model for human variation and migration.
"There are a host of questions ... that are unique to each
indigenous population -- language, dialects, appearance -- we want to
answer," he said. "What correlations will we find? Can we
trace how these particular characteristics are unique to individual
indigenous groups?"
Three representatives of indigenous communities that are participating
in the field research attended the launch ceremony in Washington last
week. Each had agreed to undergo DNA analysis, and the results of
their tests were made known to them for the first time.
Julius Indaaya Hun!un!ume, a Hadza Chieftain from Tanzania whose tribe
is the last of his nation's hunter-gatherers, learned that his genetic
lineage can be traced back to the very origins of humans in East
Africa.
Battur Tumur, a Mongolian émigré now living in San Francisco,
discovered he was a direct descendant of 12th century warlord Genghis
Khan, a revered symbol of strength and stability in his homeland.
Phil Bluehouse Jr., a Navajo Indian living in Arizona, found out that
his ancestry linked to nomads that once roamed present-day Mongolia, a
recurring notion he said had permeated his dreams since he was a boy.
He said he now felt more complete as a person knowing all people are
connected, and the Genographic Project had confirmed a belief the
deeply spiritual Navajo peoples have long held to be true.
"Because we know who we are, we can better understand the being
that links us all together," he said. "We're all beautifully
connected, there's no other way to put it."
Jason Motlagh is an intern for UPI Science News.
E-mail: sciencemail@upi.com
SOURCE: http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050413-052535-4867r.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Project digs into the roots of
mankind
Posted on Mon, Apr. 18, 2005
MIKE TONER
Cox News Service
ATLANTA - The National Geographic Society has begun what may be the
ultimate search for human roots. For $99.95 and a swab of spit, anyone
can join in and get a whole new perspective on their family tree.
The society last week launched a five-year project to seek the origins
of the human species and map the migration of ancient peoples out of
Africa as they populated the globe.
The $40 million Genographic Project will collect blood samples from
100,000 indigenous peoples throughout the world, analyze them for
genetic markers and try to determine their geographic origins.
"Our DNA tells a fascinating story of the human journey, how we
are all related and how our ancestors got to where we are today,"
says population geneticist Spencer Wells, who will head the project.
To generate public interest, Geographic is also offering a test kit
that will allow anyone to take a swab of saliva and send it to a
laboratory for DNA analysis. Participants will get a "personalized
genetic analysis," a peek at their "deep ancestral history"
- and assurances of total privacy.
The kits can be ordered at www3.nationalgeographic.-com/genographic.
Individual test results are expected to take about six weeks.
Lest anyone be seeking proof that their ancestors came over on the
Mayflower, National Geographic cautions that the test will "not
provide names for your personal family tree or tell you where your
great-grandparents lived." The society does promise, however,
that everyone will get a genetic profile that will tell them something
about their "deep ancestors."
Really deep. Most fossil evidence suggests that modern humans appeared
in Africa between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago and began migrating to
other continents about 60,000 years ago.
Some scientists say there was a single migration, some say more. Asia,
Europe and Australia were the next to be populated. The Americas were
the last.
If scientists are right, all 6 billion people living on the planet
today have ancestors who lived in Africa a long time ago. That concept
has prompted some scientists to suggest that an African "Adam and
Eve" - or at least a small group of genetically similar
hunter-gatherers - lie at the base of what is now a many-branched
human family tree.
"We have some indications from prior studies about the migration
of people in the last 50,000 to 10,000 years," says Ajay Royyuru
of IBM's Computational Biology Center, which is collaborating on the
project.
"What's missing is the detail, the ability for everyone on the
planet to be able to see, understand, exactly how they got to be where
they are."
Ten research centers around the world will receive funding from the
Waitt Family Foundation - founded by Gateway computer magnate Ted
Waitt - to collect and analyze the DNA samples.
Each individual is the result of the unique combination of their
parents' genetic code.
But some genetic material, the male Y chromosome and maternally
inherited mitochondrial DNA, is passed to the succeeding generations
essentially unchanged, except for rare natural mutations that enable
researchers to identify lineages extending back thousands of years.
"Once a particular marker appears by mutation in a man, all of
his descendants will also carry that marker," Wells says.
"If we compile information on a large set of markers and project
them back in time using computer algorithms, the trail of mutations
coalesces in a single Y-chromosome whose owner lived between 40,000 to
140,000 years ago in Africa."
Because that mutation, named M94, is now carried by every man on the
planet, Wells likes to call this man "Genetic Adam." But
even he concedes the term may be misleading. He says there were
certainly other humans living at the same time. Their lineages simply
didn't make it to the present.
With a goal of collecting more than 100,000 DNA samples representing
every indigenous group on the planet, the National Geographic effort
hopes to paint a detailed picture of human migration.
The society also hopes to avoid the political fuss that, more than a
decade ago, prompted the federal government to withdraw support for a
similar project that was intended to study the human genome.
National Geographic will not gather any information on genetic
diseases and will make all of its anthropological data freely
available.
SOURCE: http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/11421095.htm
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