I've recently read a great book entitled A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Human Story Retold Through Our Genes,
by Adam Rutherford. It's about using DNA for anthropological purposes,
such as finding the relationship between humans and Neanderthals. (You and I have Neanderthal DNA.) Rutherford
says that the companies who tell people that they are 24% Cherokee, or
whatever, are on a par with the horoscopes in the newspaper.
There are many reasons for this. One of them is that humans are all related. One evidence for that is that many pieces of DNA are shared between various ethnic groups.
Another lesson, repeatedly told, is that the concept of race has no genetic basis. Again, we are all related. By this, Rutherford means that two people from different locations in Africa are likely to have less common DNA than either one of them and someone from, say, Belgium, have in common.
It's impossible to do justice to the book in this brief post. It is readable by people without strong backgrounds in science.
Note this passage from the Bible: Acts 17:26 He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons, and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 that they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
Thanks for reading.
Musings on science, the Bible, and fantastic literature (and sometimes basketball and other stuff).
God speaks to us through the Bible and the findings of science, and we should listen to both types of revelation.
The title is from Psalm 84:11.
The Wikipedia is usually a pretty good reference. I mostly use the World English Bible (WEB), because it is public domain. I am grateful.
License
I have written an e-book, Does the Bible Really Say That?, which is free to anyone. To download that book, in several formats, go here.
The posts in this blog are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You can copy and use this material, as long as you aren't making money from it. If you give me credit, thanks. If not, OK.
The posts in this blog are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You can copy and use this material, as long as you aren't making money from it. If you give me credit, thanks. If not, OK.
2 comments:
Every now and then I've toyed with the idea of checking into those tests. If they could tell me more about my family ... I wonder what exactly they can tell. I had an acquaintance who was reunited with a previously-unknown relative by a DNA test. I'd have been skeptical of the results if I hadn't then seen a picture of her previously-unknown relative. Very strong family resemblance, a kid who looked like a clone of his grandfather ...
Curious.
Take care & God bless
Anne / WF
Thanks for your comment.
Yes, DNA testing can establish relationship, and guilt or innocence, when used properly.
The book I read, by an authority, is critical of tests that claim to show someone's racial/ethnic ancestry.
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