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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
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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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