Genetic Genealogy in the News – January 1, 2009

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!  I hope everyone is enjoying a relaxing start to the new year.  Thank you for reading TGG in 2008, and I hope you are as excited as I am about the developments in genetic genealogy that 2009 is sure to bring!

Here is a recap of some of the most recent news in genetic genealogy and personalized genomics in the end of 2008:

Personalized medicine covered in the New York Times.

Dr. Marjolein Kriek, First Woman to Have Her DNA Sequence Determined (HT: Megan Smolenyak).

DNA results show no link to ancient human remains – About 230 Native people participated in study to find Shuká Kaa descendants.  Dr. Brian Kemp, who I interviewed back in 2007, is attempting to find maternal relatives of 10,300 year-old remains named Shuká Kaa (Man Before Us) who is Haplogroup D.  Native Americans are often reluctant to donate their DNA, and this collection represents a huge sampling of Native mtDNA.  I hope the sequences will be shared.  See more here and here.

The Spittoon, 23andMe’s blog, has really focused on genetic genealogy this month.  There are two interesting articles, one regarding the Y-chromosome and one regarding the X-chromsome.  “ What’s in a Name: Surnames and the Y-Chromosome” and “X Marks the Spot: New Study Reveals Value of X-Chromosome in Tracing Prehistoric Human Migrations.”

Look into the eyes of the PGP-10 at Genetic Future – Daniel MacArthur posts photos of the Personal Genome Project’s “First 10” and discusses the current phase of the PGP.  Additionally, The Personal Genome has a “Video Interview with Stanley Lapidus of the PGP-10”.

2008 in review: Ethnicity Strikes Back at Dienekes’ Anthropology Blog.  From the post: “It is now clear that ethnic groups are not only cultural-political formations, but also (at least in part) distinct biological entities, emerging naturally as clusters of similarity from the genetic continuum.”  Be sure to read the comments for an interesting and heated discussion.

Thomas Goetz has a blog called “The Decision Tree,” which will also be the name of a new book that Goetz is writing about the shift from physician-directed medical treatment to patient-directed treatment, including a perspective on personalized genetics.  A re-launching post is here – I highly recommend subscribing to this blog.  Attila has further discussion with “The Decision Tree: Thomas Goetz’s upcoming book on predictive/personalized medicine.”

David Ewing Duncan writes “Discount DNA” at Portfolio.com about Complete Genomics.  See discussion at Genetic Future, and a similar article at Cosmic Log.

5 Responses

  1. Marie Stephenson 5 January 2009 / 8:56 pm

    Hi Blaine, forgive me yet? i was really in a blue funk the last time i emailed you. would like to talk to you some more about my DNA etc.

    Marie

  2. Richard 8 January 2009 / 11:01 am

    Lots of good information here about what has happened in the Genealogy field in the past year. I hope you and yours has a safe and happy new year.

  3. Joel Stewart 21 June 2012 / 2:23 pm

    i am really much interested in genealogy but this article has really shocked me.I didn’t get this information before but I am going to study with this information.

  4. employee monitoring software 24 June 2012 / 2:21 pm

    well, I want to appreciate this blog as it has given me some nice ideas about genealogy.I used to watch some programmes which were based on DNA technology.but those programmes were not clear to me.this blog has helped me to overcome all those concepts.

Comments are closed.