Archive for May, 2008
Did walking on 2 feet begin with a shuffle?
(University of Washington) A pair of researchers have developed a model that suggests shuffling emerged millions of years ago as a precursor to walking on two feet as a way of saving metabolic energy by a common ancestor of today primates.
Rewriting Greenland’s Immigration History
The first immigrants in Greenland were not Indians from the North American continent or Canadian Inuit as previously suggested. And it is not just a question of revising the Greenlandic immigration history. The discovery is the world’s first successful attempt to sequence an entire mitochondrial genome from an extinct human.
Statistical Tool Could Explain Gene Study Variations
A biostatistician is using statistics to explain variations in genome-wide association studies. Scientists use genome-wide association studies to compare the genes of people with health conditions to the genes of healthy people, thereby better understanding basic biological processes that affect health and possibly how to better diagnose and treat disease. Some studies account for differences by using control groups who self-report similar ethnicities. But there can be wide variations because people are not always completely aware of their ancestry.
New Statistical Method Reveals Surprises About Our Ancestry
A statistical approach to studying genetic variation promises to shed new light on the history of human migration. Application of the method has already turned up such surprising findings as a strong Mongolian contribution to the genes of the Native American Pima people and gene flow from the north of Europe to Eastern Siberia.
GRO survey
Else Churchill at the Society of Genealogists has contacted me about an online survey being conducted by the Identity and Passport Survey (which recently absorbed the General Register Office). She told me that: "I think that it would be useful for family historians to look at the survey and make comments as they think appropriate. If you have any comments to make about ordering certificates through the GRO’s existing website, getting information about indexes, or any other aspect of the certificate service website then here is your opportunity. If you have any feelings about the integration of the General Register Office with the Identity and Passport Service and identity cards you can make comments. I am worried that the GRO website may well become much more difficult to find if it is subsumed wholly within Direct Gov and I know some people have been frustrated with the online ordering system. Do take the opportunity to respond. I think the Identity and Passport Agency should know how important the registration service is to the family history community."
The survey is at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=9XArLRa_2b_2bFTLdL3ELj5bDA_3d_3d
Please complete it.
Familybuilder’s Family Tree Application Now Available To Members Of Hi5 and Orkut, Over 14 Million Family Tree Profiles Built To Date Across Popular Social Networks
Familybuilder is playing a major role in how people interact with their families on the Internet. (PRWeb May 20, 2008)
Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/05/prweb957984.htm
Dermatologists Link Family History To Shingles Susceptibility
Researchers have identified family history as one reason why some people might be more susceptible to shingles, a severe skin condition. Shingles, or Herpes Zoster, is a burning, painful, itchy skin rash with blisters that can last up to five weeks and pain that can last months to years. Nearly 1 million shingles cases are diagnosed each year in the United States.
New Tool To Understand Evolution Of Multi-domain Genes Developed
Computational biologists have for the first time tackled the dilemma of how to study the ancestry of multidomain genes, which encode an important class of proteins called multidomain proteins that are crucial to human health. They found that standard methods for analyzing gene evolution, are critically flawed when applied to multidomain genes, mutations of which often are associated with cancers.
Ancestors had leg-up to trees
A new study explains how the tiny ancestors of humans, apes and monkeys may have taken to the trees.
More about DNA
Several readers have pointed me towards The International Society Of Genetic Genealogy http://www.isogg.org which provides advice about DNA and genetics in general. The website, for example, contains a useful comparison of services provided by commercial DNA testing companies. There is also a bulletin board section for new members. Other pages provide summaries of information in this rapidly changing arena, for example about the markers which make up various Haplogroups. It also publishes a Journal of Genetic Genealogy. And there are a store of independent experts who can provide advice on testing and interpretation of results and the pros and cons of the various testing companies. And amazingly membership is free.