http://www.nnseek.com/e/sci.archeology/ Posts for sci.archeology Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:36:23 PDT http://www.nnseek.com/ http://www.nnseek.com/img/64.png 64 64 NNSeek http://www.nnseek.com/e/sci.archeology/unravelling_the_mysteries_of_ancient_human_migrati_105784398t.html http://www.nnseek.com/e/sci.archeology/unravelling_the_mysteries_of_ancient_human_migrati_105784398t.html
THE HINDU
Thursday, Aug 23, 2007

Where did humans originate and how did they populate the
entire globe? Scientists may finally be able to answer
these fundamental questions when they have enough DNA
samples from people all over the world.

The Genographic Project attempts to trace the ancient
journey of man through the genetic analysis of present-day
populations on every continent. This nonprofit, five-year
research partnership of National Geographic and IBM is led
by geneticist Dr. Spencer Wells with support from the Waitt
Family Foundation.

India is one of the ten international centres for this
world-spanning project. A state-of-the-art facility
dedicated for genographic work was established at the
Madurai Kamaraj University this July. Vijaysree Venkatraman
interviewed Dr. Ramasamy Pitchappan, Regional Director of
Genographic Project, India.

Excerpts:

Q How will the work done in India help piece together the
big puzzle?

A Humans have lived in India for 50,000 years at least.
Ancient migrant populations must have expanded in India for
a long time giving rise to various breeding isolates --
some of these tribes/castes still practice endogamy.

Geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky once remarked: "The caste
system in India was the grandest genetic experiment ever
performed on man." The present study will unravel the
mysteries of the origin, migration and expansion of various
populations under different climatic conditions.

Q Tell us about your involvement with the Genographic
Project.

A In 2000, when I was at Oxford, we carried out work to
verify if the first humans migrated via India to Australia.
Fossils indicate that Man lived in Africa and a fraction
moved out 60,000 years ago. Archaeological remnants were
not found in any country en route to Australia. So, how did
our peripatetic ancestors get there?

The coastal marker M130 appeared in the first exodus of a
handful of people out of Africa, 50-70,000 years ago. It is
now present in every alternate Australian aborigine.

Our study showed that 5-7 per cent of the Madurai samples
carried this marker which confirms the out-of-Africa,
coastal migration hypothesis. These results were published
in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
(PNAS) in 2001.

A subsequent wave of migration -- characterised by M89
marker -- gave rise to Indian and Chinese populations.
Another offshoot settled in Central Asia, expanded and gave
rise to present-day Europeans, later migrant Indian
populations and the American Indians.

Sir Walter Bodmer -- a British geneticist and the last
author on the PNAS paper -- said in an interview: "We are
all descended from Africa." This put a full stop to the
multiple origin theory. The DNA of Man does not lie. One is
sure of the results which can be verified anywhere,
anytime.

Q How did the documentary on the genetic odyssey come
about?

A Spencer Wells, the principal author, was invited to
make a documentary of these remarkable findings. The
'Journey of Man' -- shot in various locations in a year's
time -- was a monumental story. When it aired on television
in 2003, it created ripples among scientists and commoners
alike.

The Madurai episode was the key. Following this success,
Dr. Wells convinced the National Geographic that further
research with public participation was necessary. In 2005,
the Genographic Project was launched.

Q Do various populations contribute genetic samples for
this research?

A Ten different laboratories around the world will
collect 10,000 DNA samples each, creating a virtual museum
of human history in the process! Apart from this, 216,000
people have purchased the cheek-swab kit from National
Geographic worldwide, learnt their migratory pathways, and
celebrated their 'heritage.'

In India, we select distinct populations, known to
anthropologists, based on socio-cultural characteristics,
language families, domicile and isolation -- how far they
are segregated from others in terms of marriage etc. (The
initial Madurai study involved Kallars, Saurashtrians and
Yadhavas.)

Q Briefly explain the science behind the project.

A In the 3-billion-base-pair-long human DNA sequence,
simple mutations (called SNPs or VNTRs) are possible during
replication.

Nucleotides are accidentally replaced once in a while --
mostly copying errors -- and these 'mistakes' are inherited
from that generation onwards.

These variants can serve as genetic markers to trace
migration or ancestry.

Q Why is the Y chromosome, present only in men, chosen to
study markers?

A A segment of the Y chromosome (NRY) does not recombine,
and the mutations, which accumulate over time, are passed
on without 'shuffling' from father to son. Hence these
markers, inherited through male lineages, are used to
follow migratory splits of Man over time.

Q Does the DNA of women carry the migration tale as well?


A Both males and females inherit mitochondrial DNA
(mtDNA) from their mothers. As the mitochondria of sperms
does not enter the egg during fertilization, studying mtDNA
helps trace the mother's route of migration.

Q What is the larger significance of this research
effort?

A The awareness 'Mankind is the same' is valuable for any
nation to live in peace and harmony.

Migratory pathways, as determined by DNA, also correlate to
the cultural evolution of a society.

DNA studies on fossils, complemented by archaeological
excavations could answer intriguing questions such as: Who
were the Harappans? Did the Dravidian and Indo-European
languages originate in India or arrive here?

The broad outline of the genetic epic is clear -- finer
details will now emerge.

More at:
http://www.hindu.com/seta/2007/08/23/stories/2007082350011500.htm

Jai Maharaj
http://tinyurl.com/24fq83
http://www.mantra.com/jai
http://www.mantra.com/jyotish
Om Shanti

Hindu Holocaust Museum
http://www.mantra.com/holocaust

Hindu life, principles, spirituality and philosophy
http://www.hindu.org
http://www.hindunet.org

The truth about Islam and Muslims
http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate

DISCLAIMER AND CONDITIONS

o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.

Posted In: sci.archeology

no comments

Reply

]]> Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:36:23 PDT http://www.nnseek.com/e/sci.archeology/high_school_brothers_98697294t.html http://www.nnseek.com/e/sci.archeology/high_school_brothers_98697294t.html
I think they had an okay time. I think they got a little bored later in the
party. (It did kinda fizzle out, but I still had a great time, because. I
had
a lot of people to talk to )

I came home drank a beer, ate some popcorn and watched Serial Mom til 3 am.
It was on usa network. That continued the Baltimore theme. I think that
movie is hilarious. (They went to bed as soon as we got back)

one friend loaded up on Kripsy Kremes this morning before I took them to the
airport.
She says Pittsburgh will get a kispy kreme in the fall.


"Well I've learned to lie
And here's what I've got
Well didn't I think you would always love me
And didn't I want you to take care of me baby"--kate voegele, chicgo--

Posted In: sci.archeology

no comments

Reply

]]> Sat, 02 Feb 2008 07:47:29 PST http://www.nnseek.com/e/sci.archeology/portal_keygen_594_1_2_86113102t.html http://www.nnseek.com/e/sci.archeology/portal_keygen_594_1_2_86113102t.html chqrgeesmiczyhmnrsptdbdfcnmtvlrugudhos

Posted In: sci.archeology

no comments

Reply

]]> Sat, 20 Oct 2007 23:40:26 PDT http://www.nnseek.com/e/sci.archeology/youtube_video_downloader_keygen_2647_1_2_85850958t.html http://www.nnseek.com/e/sci.archeology/youtube_video_downloader_keygen_2647_1_2_85850958t.html ihqteejdwyfzepdykofzsmegwvdsqzkslowxeujfejip

Posted In: sci.archeology

no comments

Reply

]]> Fri, 19 Oct 2007 15:30:08 PDT