Is DNA Proven? Does the Environment as well as Heredity also play a role? Is it relevant to Ten Tribes Studies?
Recent concerns have caused us to lower our former alertness concerning developments in DNA research. It was never a strong point with us. We know little about it.
Nevertheless, we think in the light of what we have read that:
DNA (including YDNA and mtDNA markers used to show hereditary relationships) is inherited as well as being triggered by environment.
It may therefore be used to show tentative relationships between peoples and their inter-relationships. See our Conclusion below.
Recently we received the following query:
Elizabeth wrote:
I'm aware that you are an Orthodox Jew. However, this website,
Abraham's Legacy
is posting a vast amount of material on the ten lost tribes, migrations,
DNA of Khazars / Ashkenazic Jews the intent of my question was if you were
aware of them and had an opinion as to the efficacy of their material.
If you've heard of the Churches of God, do you agree with their material?
When I discover something "new" on the web about the ten lost tribes, I've always used
your research as the measuring rod of truth because you ARE an Orthodox Jew.
Brit-Am Reply:
This subject deals with DNA so that my religious beliefs are not so relevant. The site is interesting BUT we disagree with it.
Nevertheless his claims are consistent with conventional findings and worth considering.
He seems to consider the true Y DNA of Israelites to be I and J both of which are related. I bet he too has Y(male-transmitted) DNA haplogroup I, or J2 !
Haplogroup I is found in Scandinavia, and in the Balkans. J is found in Mediterranean regions as well as amongst Jews and Arabs. The two (I and J) are closely related.
I think he may be correct in considering I and J virtually the same and in attributing both of them to Semitic forebears.
We however would go further than he has done and take into account other possibilities and environmental influence alongside heredity.
Similarly we have at least two other websites working along similar lines as well as the Brit-Am one which also has articles on the subject.
jewsandjoes.com
These seem to leave the question of Israelite ancestry open though tentatively suggest that all YDNA P are from Ephraim.
YDNA P is a general group encompassing numerous sub-groups. P includes a good portion of the world's population so they are being as Not Specific as possible.
Again we have:
Drs. Alex and Georgina Perdomo associated with Batya Wootten and strongly partisan.
The Shuffling of the Twelve Tribes of Israel
They seem to say that YDNA E1b1b1 (formerly known as E3b1) is the real Israelite YDNA. Now I happen to know that E1b1b1 is the personal YDNA of Dr. Alex
so naturally he thinks it is the true Israelite type. No-one else however seems to agree with him, unless we count only E1b1b1 people.
E1b1b1 is in fact a white version of E which is associated mainly with Africa but also extends into the Mediterranean region and southeast Europe.
We suspect that environmental influence is a factor here.
Concerning Brit-Am/Hebrew Nations
Yair Davidiy personally has an Irish-Scottish (R-M222 descendants of Nial) version of R1b so I cannot agree with either of the above two opinions.
R1b is mainly Western European but we also find it in some tribes of Black Africa and amongst Australian Aborigines NOT as a result of intermixture but as a natural occurrence.
We also have a few articles on the subject,
See:
Brit-Am DNA articles.
see especially:
Some Came Running!
The Very Recent Movement of YDNA R1b to Western Europe.
Conclusion.
Different opinions exist. Those who are interested in the subject will learn something by considering all the different points of view. No-one really knows for sure though to some degree in limited contexts DNA could shed light on the movements of peoples.
We think DNA changes were triggered by the environment at key points in time in multiple instances affecting numerous subjects within certain areas.
Not only that but in some areas it may be that different people were affected differently e.g. some became R1b, others J2, etc.
Once the effects take place the changes are more or less fixed and transmitted through heredity.
We find similar occurrences amongst animals, e.g. certain types of migrating frogs on the move suddenly breed a select group of larger specimens with longer legs. These will lead the others who will keep their short legs. To produce the needed change amongst a portion of the frogs a change in their DNA must have been effected.
This is only a theory of ours based on general impressions but I feel certain that somewhere there are scientists who already have reached similar conclusions and who will be able to propose a more scientifically acceptable formulation along with the necessary recorded phenomena.