http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/dna/ en-us Sun, 7 Sep 2008 16:41:27 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2076726/posts Eight years ago, I published an article in these pages called "Wandering Jews—and Their Genes" (September 2000). At the time I was working on a book about a Tibeto-Burmese ethnic group in the northeast Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur, many of whose members believe that they descend from the biblical tribe of Manasseh, and about a group of Judaizers among them known as the B'nei Menashe, over a thousand of whom live today in Israel as converts to Judaism. This led me to an interest in Jewish historical genetics, then a new discipline. Historical genetics itself was still a... Commentary Magazine http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2076726/posts#comment Sun, 7 Sep 2008 16:41:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2075126/posts The gene in question codes for a protein receptor called CCR5. The HIV virus binds to this receptor before entering cells. One gene variant, called CCR5-Delta32, has 32 DNA base pairs missing and produces a receptor that HIV cannot bind to, which prevents the virus from entering the cells. People with this variant have some resistance to HIV infection and also take longer to develop AIDS. Generally, only people in Europe and western Asia carry the variant, and it becomes less and less frequent as you move south. For example, more than 15 per cent of people in some areas... New Scientist http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2075126/posts#comment Fri, 5 Sep 2008 05:56:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2074957/posts The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of three U.S. servicemen, missing from World War II, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors. They are Ensign Irvin A.R. Thompson, of Hudson County, N.J.; Ensign Eldon P. Wyman, of Portland, Ore.; and Fireman 2nd Class Lawrence A. Boxrucker, of Dorchester, Wis.; all U.S. Navy. Boxrucker will be buried on Sept. 6 in Dorchester, and the funerals for Thompson and Wyman are being set by their families. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941, the... DOD http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2074957/posts#comment Thu, 4 Sep 2008 23:51:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2073583/posts John McCain's campaign spokesman is reporting that the media has deluged the campaign with demands that it provide DNA samples to "prove" that baby Trig is the true offspring of vice presidential candidate Governor Sarah Palin. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2073583/posts#comment Wed, 3 Sep 2008 09:22:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2073215/posts A type of DNA analysis that could vastly increase the power of genetic fingerprinting has been developed by US scientists. They have found a way of picking an individual’s DNA out of a mixed sample – even when that sample is contaminated by the DNA of up to 200 others. The method works even when the DNA of interest is only 0.1 per cent of the sample. At present, it is hard for forensic investigators to detect an individual’s DNA if it constitutes less than 10 per cent of a mixture, or if many other people’s DNA is present. This... The Times Online http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2073215/posts#comment Tue, 2 Sep 2008 19:29:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2071977/posts See the link he has posted on his website: http://www.michaelmoore.com/ "August 31st, 2008 -- Show Us the DNA!; Claim: Palin is the grandmother of her 'daughter'" The liberals have gone beserk! Someone should post a screenshot of this in case he takes it down. Michael Moore's Homepage http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2071977/posts#comment Sun, 31 Aug 2008 20:44:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2068806/posts The Lichtenstein Cave is a short drive away from Manfred's village, deep in the Harz mountains. This is the spot where Manfred's relatives, dating back 3,000 years, were buried. The cave remained hidden from view until 1980, and it was only later, in 1993, that archaeologists discovered 40 Bronze Age skeletons. The 3,000-year-old skeletons were in such good condition that anthropologists at the University of Goettingen managed to extract a sample of DNA. That was then matched to two men living nearby: Uwe Lange, a surveyor, and Manfred Huchthausen, a teacher. The two men have now become local celebrities. BBC News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2068806/posts#comment Wed, 27 Aug 2008 02:44:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2065616/posts Thousands in Africa Lied about Families To Gain U.S. Entry The State Department has suspended a humanitarian program to reunite thousands of African refugees with relatives in the U.S. after unprecedented DNA testing by the government revealed widespread fraud. The freeze affects refugees in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Guinea and Ghana, many of whom have been waiting years to emigrate. The State Department says it began DNA testing with a pilot program launched in February to verify blood ties among African refugees. Tests found some applicants lied about belonging to the same family to gain a better chance at legal entry.... WSJ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2065616/posts#comment Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:11:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2064945/posts ...The invention of the PCR techniques has led to further refinements of the DNA fingerprinting techniques, which has given science the ability to obtain a human being's DNA fingerprinting – and therefore his or her identity – from a single cell. There can no longer be any doubt that each human being is totally unique from the very beginning of his or her life at fertilization. (Mark, P. 19-21.) The significance of methylation of cytosine was unknown until 1985. It has a profound significance in understanding...that the human being is whole and complete at fertilization. A human being at an... Dakota Voice http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2064945/posts#comment Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:39:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2063430/posts Nearly 600,000 people never convicted of any crime now have their details stored on Labour’s DNA database, shock figures reveal. More than 400,000 of those were added in the past two years, further fuelling the belief that the Government is building a genetic record of the entire population by stealth. The figure of 573,639 people on the database who have not been convicted, cautioned, formally warned or reprimanded has pushed the overall total to 4.2million. In the past two years alone, a total of about one million new people have had their DNA added. Nearly half of them – 434,176... The Daily Mail http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2063430/posts#comment Sun, 17 Aug 2008 22:10:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2062686/posts Bigfoot remains as elusive as ever. Results from tests on genetic material from alleged remains of one of the mythical half-ape and half-human creatures, made public at a news conference on Friday held after the claimed discovery swept the Internet, failed to prove its existence. Its spread was fueled by a photograph of a hairy heap, bearing a close resemblance to a shaggy full-body gorilla costume, stuffed into a container resembling a refrigerator. One of the two samples of DNA said to prove the existence of the Bigfoot came from a human and the other was 96 percent from an... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2062686/posts#comment Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:25:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2059724/posts Tulsa athlete Micheal Thomas swears he never met Lawton drug user Tiffany Dickson. Paternity Mistake DHS falsely accused Micheal Thomas of being the father of a baby whose mother... Dickson says she never met him. That didn't stop the Oklahoma Department of Human Services from getting Thomas declared the father of Dickson's baby daughter and badgering him until he dropped out of college, forfeiting a football scholarship. It also didn't stop DHS from taking a portion of his biweekly paychecks and seizing his $290 state and federal tax refunds. "This is unbelievable. This is crazy,” said Thomas, 21, a former... NEWS OKLAHOMA http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2059724/posts#comment Mon, 11 Aug 2008 03:34:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2059046/posts The family of John Edwards' former mistress, Rielle Hunter, is challenging the former senator to take a DNA paternity test after his claim that he did not father Hunter's six-month old child. In the first reaction from Hunter's family, her younger sister Melissa told ABC News that Edwards should immediately follow through on his pledge to take a paternity test. "I would challenge him to do so," the sister said. "Somebody must stand up and defend my sister," she said. "I wish that those involved would refrain from bad-mouthing my sister." In his interview with ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff... ABC News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2059046/posts#comment Sat, 9 Aug 2008 14:42:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2056918/posts Using a genetic technique pioneered at Stanford, the team found that animal-herding methods arrived in southern Africa 2,000 years ago on a wave of human migration, rather than by movement of ideas between neighbors. The findings shed light on how early cultures interacted with each other and how societies learned to adopt advances. "There's a tradition in archaeology of saying people don't move very much; they just transfer ideas through space," said Joanna Mountain, PhD, consulting assistant professor of anthropology. Mountain and Peter Underhill, PhD, senior research scientist in genetics at Stanford's School of Medicine, were the study's senior authors.... PhysOrg http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2056918/posts#comment Tue, 5 Aug 2008 17:34:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2055644/posts Dinosaurs Diversified Over Time, Not SuddenlyMany Species, Many, Many Years July 23, 2008 The belief that dinosaurs underwent explosive species diversification just before they were wiped out is an illusion, for the beasts' main evolutionary shifts took place millions of years before, a study says. The strange demise of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous era some 65 million years ago has given rise to a popular view that almost has the tinge of Greek tragedy. Just as the rulers of the Earth had reached their evolutionary zenith, a catastrophic event -- possibly a space rock that slammed... Discovery.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2055644/posts#comment Sun, 3 Aug 2008 06:40:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2052990/posts What are the real chances of mistakes? It used to be assumed that matching a suspect's fingerprints to those found at a crime scene was irrefutable proof you had the right man -- until the well-publicized case of American lawyer Brandon Mayfield, incorrectly linked by so-called FBI "fingerprint experts" to the scene of the 2004 Madrid train bombings. It then turned out Scottish police officer Shirley McKie had also been wrongly accused of having been at a murder scene in 1997 after a print supposedly matching hers was found near the body. Then came Stephan Cowans, who had served six... Las Vegas Review-Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2052990/posts#comment Tue, 29 Jul 2008 10:37:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2052629/posts Millions of profiles on the national DNA database have been handed over secretly to private companies without the consent of those involved, The Daily Telegraph can disclose. Papers obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that on five occasions since 2004 private firms with police contracts have successfully applied to use the database to help them develop computer programs. The DNA database contains records of 4.2 million people, of which a million have never been convicted of an offence. Records are rarely deleted, even if a person is not charged. The disclosure comes ahead of a hard-hitting report from... The Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2052629/posts#comment Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:10:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2052126/posts [isn't this Gannett?] US News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2052126/posts#comment Sun, 27 Jul 2008 17:12:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2048216/posts New research into inheritance shows we can alter family traits for better or for worse. Jonathan Leake reports For Beatrix Zwart being young means having fun. She works hard, and out of hours she plays hard — including plenty of nights on the town with her friends. “I lead a similar lifestyle to a lot of young professionals in Britain and I don’t intend to have any children until I’m well into my thirties,” said Zwart, a 25-year-old Belgian who lives in London. “I’ve never really thought my lifestyle now could have any effect on my future children or grandchildren.”... www.timesonline.co.uk http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2048216/posts#comment Sun, 20 Jul 2008 01:15:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2046945/posts News   July 17, 2008, 4:55DNA confirms TsarÂ’s family remainsDNA results have confirmed that remains found near Ekaterinburg a year ago belong to Prince Aleksey and Grand Duchess Maria Nikolayevna of the Romanov family. The announcement comes on the 90th anniversary of the execution of Tsar Nicholas II and his family by Bolsheviks.On Wednesday, church services are being held across Russia to remember the tragic event. The last Tsar of Russia and his family were shot in the early hours of July 17 1918, less than two years after the abdication of Nicholas II, in the Urals city of... Russia Today http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2046945/posts#comment Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:47:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2046518/posts Some 40,000 years ago, Cro-Magnons -- the first people who had a skeleton that looked anatomically modern -- entered Europe, coming from Africa. A group of geneticists, coordinated by Guido Barbujani and David Caramelli of the Universities of Ferrara and Florence, shows that a Cro-Magnoid individual who lived in Southern Italy 28,000 years ago was a modern European, genetically as well as anatomically. Science Daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2046518/posts#comment Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:27:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2046320/posts Cavemen and their relatives in the same village after 3,000 years Uwe Lange meets a recreation of one of his Bronze Age ancestors Roger Boyes in Berlin The good news for two villagers in the Söse valley of Germany yesterday was that they have discovered their great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents — give or take a generation or two. The bad news is that their long-lost ancestors may have grilled and eaten other members of their clan. Every family has its skeletons in the cave, though, so Manfred Hucht-hausen, 58, a teacher, and 48-year-old surveyor Uwe Lange remained in celebratory mood. Thanks to... timesonline.co.uk http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2046320/posts#comment Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:59:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2046315/posts Y chromosome study sheds light on Athapaskan migration to southwest US A large-scale genetic study of native North Americans offers new insights into the migration of a small group of Athapaskan natives from their subarctic home in northwest North America to the southwestern United States. The migration, which left no known archaeological trace, is believed to have occurred about 500 years ago. The study, led by researchers at the University of Illinois, is detailed this month in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. It relied on a genetic analysis of the Y chromosome and so offers a window on the... eurekalert.org http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2046315/posts#comment Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:53:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2046252/posts It's easy to snickeringly dismiss the recent disclosure that the late hotelier Leona Helmsley not only left $12 million to her dog but nearly all of the rest of her estate - an estimated $5 billion to $8 billion (yes, billion) - to dogdom. No correlation, after all, has ever been evident between wealth and sanity. Apes may resemble humans, but they never get punished for stealing a banana. Photo: Courtesy Great Ape Project More significant by far was another recent bit of animal news, the Spanish parliament's June 25 vote in support of extending the right to life and... Jerusalem Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2046252/posts#comment Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:36:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2045925/posts "A Defense Department DNA identification lab has helped bring to a close a near-century-old mystery, laying to rest a search for the remains of two children executed alongside the rest of the family of Russia’s last czar." "Now, the lab has again helped the Russian government by identifying the remains of those two children, found last year in a shallow grave about 70 feet from the larger gravesite." DefenseLink (DoD News) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2045925/posts#comment Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:59:18 GMT