[Fred Nerks]

Thanks. Very interesting about the idione link. My ancestors on the maternal side came from the Salzburg region and my great grandmother, grandmother and mother all suffered from thyroid problems.

[GoLightly]

I think the iodine theory is interesting too. My mom has a well healed zipper across her neck. I thought it was a Northern European, pale skinned kinda deal. Maybe it's related to living inland. I'm not sure.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but here goes... I believe they can only reliably do mitochondrial DNA tests in ancient subjects. Our mitochondrial DNA isn't actually our own DNA, but instead it's DNA of something our ancestors picked up ages ago. Species that are related to us, but not in our direct line would likely be susceptible to the same kinds of viruses as we were. If we were cohabiting with creatures that were similar to us, could a wide reaching viral epidemic cause us to think we are more closely related than we are?