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Archiver > NCGREENE > 2001-03 > 0983739659


From: Martha Marble <>
Subject: [NCGREENE] [genpcfr] Genealogy DNA
Date: Sun, 04 Mar 2001 16:00:59 -0500


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>Date: Sun, 4 Mar 2001 15:45:26 -0500
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>Subject: [genpcfr] Genealogy DNA
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>Hello Group:
> Gleaned from today's Kinston Free Press / Sunday, March 4, 2001 ...
> I wanted to be sure all of you saw this.... very interesting
>concept and as Spock would say, "Fascinating!"
>
>>History Hunters Close To New Technique
>>by The Associated Press
>
>>PROVO, Utah ----- Genealogical research has always meant days in dusty
>archives and searches through miles of microfiche and stacks of faded
>photographs.
> But soon, history hunters might be able to find out where they're from
>with a quick cheek swab and a few hours of gene testing.
> Scott Woodward, a microbiology professor at Brigham Young University, is
>directing a project that combines old-fashioned genealogy with the latest
>technology in the hope of making it easier to fill out family trees.
> "Each of us carries a history of who we are and how we're related to the
>whole world", Woodward said as he pored over blood samples in his busy
>campus laboratory. "We're trying to decode that history."
> The process begins with the prick of a needle. Volunteers from all over
>the country, each with a written genealogy that extends back at least to
>their great-great-grandparents, have given Woodward a few teaspoons of blood
>during the first year of the project.
> DNA from the blood is analyzed to create a map of about 250 simple
>genetic markers.
> In the future, a supercomputer will create a matrix of all those genes
>and the historical data from the donated family trees. Woodward says he'll
>then be able to focus on any spot in space and time -- say, Denmark in
>1886 -- to identify the genes residents carried.
> That means future genealogists, perhaps just five or 10 years from now,
>will be able to submit their own DNA and a query. Because all names are
>stripped off the blood samples and charts to protect privacy, it is
>impossible to track specific individuals. But a researcher could ask where
>his or her great-grandmother was from, and Woodward could answer: she was
>born in Denmark around 1886.
> That's an exciting proposition, said Ed Gaulin, president of the
>Manasota Genealogical Society in Bradenton, Fla., which helped organize a
>recent sampling trip by the BYU researchers to western Florida.
> "I've been at this genealogy thing since I was a kid and I've seen three
>major advances in genealogy," said Gaulin, who donated blood himself. "The
>photocopier was the first, the next was the computer, and the third one is
>DNA. That's where I put this. It's that important."
> "There have been people out there suggesting that DNA will be the
>guideline for pedigrees in the future," said Russ Henderson, spokesman for
>the National Geneagical Society. But he warned that genealogy buffs should
>remember that genetic material is just another clue in the search for their
>ancestors.
> At least 11,000 people have donated blood so far, a bit more than the
>initial one-year goal of 10,000, and Woodward hopes to collect another
>30,000 samples this year. He figures he needs 100,000 for a solid database,
>which he could have in three years.>
>
>[Note: A photo is shown with the article with this caption]
>>DNA samples line the shelves in a cold storage room (above) at Brigham
>Young University, where ethnic traces within the DNA are being analyzed to
>determine a person's geneological background by microbiology professor Scott
>Woodward.>
>
>
>
>
>
>Excellent genealogy resourses available at PITT COUNTY FAMILY RESEARCHERS
website. Suggest you BookMark it! Visit:
> http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncpcfr/
>
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