Brit-Am Anthropology and DNA Update
Contents:
1. Etruscan DNA German and English Links
2. DNA Changes Can Spread Within Populations Like a Virus!
What Darwin Didn't Know About Evolution BY SIMON WORRALL
3. DNA STUDY REVEALS 130,000 HUNGARIANS ARE AT LEAST 50% JEWISH
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1. Etruscan DNA German and English Links
Genetic research
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etruscan_civilization#Genetic_research
Historians have no literature and no original Etruscan texts of religion or philosophy; therefore, much of what is known about this civilization derives from tomb findings.[34] A mtDNA study in 2004 stated that the Etruscans had no significant heterogeneity, and that all mitochondrial lineages observed among the Etruscan samples appear typically European or West Asian, but only a few haplotypes were shared with modern populations. Allele sharing between the Etruscans and modern populations is highest among Germans (seven haplotypes in common), the Cornish from South West England (five haplotypes in common), the Turks (four haplotypes in common), and the Tuscans (two haplotypes in common).[35]
A mitochondrial DNA study (2013) also suggests that the Etruscans were an indigenous population, showing that Etruscans appear to fall very close to a Neolithic population from Central Europe and to other Tuscan populations, strongly suggesting that the Etruscan civilization developed locally from the Villanovan culture and that genetic links between Tuscany and Western Anatolia date back at least 5,000 years during the Neolithic, and the "most likely separation time between Tuscany and Western Anatolia falls around 7,600 years ago". The ancient Etruscan samples had mitochondrial DNA haplogroups (mtDNA) JT (predominantly J) and U5, with a minority of mtDNA H1b.[36] According to British archeologist Phil Perkins, "there are indications that the evidence of DNA can support the theory that Etruscan people are autochthonous in central Italy".[37][38]
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2. DNA Changes Can Spreads Within a Population Like a Virus!
What Darwin Didn't Know About Evolution
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/09/darwin-evolution-crispr-microbiome-bacteria-news/
New aspects of evolution have come to light with the introduction of advanced technologies that didn't exist during Darwin's era.
BY SIMON WORRALL
Extracts:
Horizontal gene transfer is essentially sideways heredity. It's the passage of genetic material sideways, from one creature into another, from one species into another. It can even go from one kingdom of life into another, sideways, across great barriers. That was thought to be undoable. I first read about it back in 2013 and my reaction was, 'Wait, what? No! That doesn't happen! That can't happen!'
In fact, genes can go sideways across vast species boundaries. For instance, a gene for resistance to one kind of antibiotic in one form of bacteria, like staphylococcus, can move sideways into another, completely different form of bacteria, say, E.coli. This can happen not just in bacteria but also in animals, plants, and higher organisms, generally as a result of infection or parasitism.
One example is a form of transposon. Big, complicated word. [laughs] What's a transposon? It's a stretch of DNA that transposes from one part of a genome within a creature to another part. But scientists have discovered that these things can also jump from one creature to another, and even from one species to another.
One transposon has been given the name space invaders. It's a long stretch of DNA that invades lots of different organisms. It seems able to pass, for instance, from a reptile into an insect or from a possum into a rat, by way of something called a kissing bug, an insect that, when sucking blood, sucks in some of this transposon. The transposon then moves from one species to another and becomes part of the heritable genome of that new species.
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3. DNA STUDY REVEALS 130,000 HUNGARIANS ARE AT LEAST 50% JEWISH
https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/DNA-study-reveals-130000-Hungarians-are-at-least-50-percent-Jewish-598498
At least 7.6% of 4,981 people living in Hungary who took MyHeritage DNA test found to have 25% or more Ashkenazi Jewish ethnicity
BY ILANIT CHERNICK
Extracts:
AMyHeritage DNA study has revealed that Hungary's population has the highest percentage of Jewish ancestry outside of Israel. In total, 100 countries were included in the research.
At least 7.6% of the 4,981 people living in Hungary who took the DNA test were found to have at least 25% or more Ashkenazi Jewish ethnicity.
'This is equivalent to having at least one grandparent who is fully Ashkenazi Jewish,' MyHeritage said. 'This is a significantly higher percentage than the 3.5% observed in DNA test-takers living in the USA and 3% in Canada.'
Based on UN estimates, Hungary's population is 9.7 million.
'MyHeritage discovered that 4.2% of DNA test-takers in Hungary have 50% or more Ashkenazi Jewish ethnicity,' it added.
The study also found that 12.5% of the people tested in Hungary had 10% or more Ashkenazi Jewish ethnicity, compared to only 4.7% of people in the USA and 4.0% in Canada.