Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Possible Hebrew DNA found in South America

Exerpts from a MormonTimes.com article By Michael De Groote, May. 12, 2008:

Was Hebrew DNA recently found in American Indian populations in South America? According to Scott R. Woodward, executive director of Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, a DNA marker, called the "Cohen modal haplotype," sometimes associated with Hebrew people, has been found in Colombia, Brazil and Bolivia....

According to Woodward, while forensic DNA (popularized in TV shows like "CSI") looks for the sections of DNA that vary greatly from individual to individual, the sections of DNA used for studying large groups are much smaller and do not change from individual to individual.

Studies using this second type of DNA yield differing levels of reliability or, as Woodward calls it, "resolution."

At a lower resolution the confidence in the results goes down. At higher resolution confidence goes up in the results.

Guess which level of resolution critics of the Book of Mormon use?...


Woodward says that most likely, when higher-resolution tests are used, we will learn that the Hebrew DNA in native populations can be traced to conquistadors whose ancestors intermarried with Jewish people in Spain or even more modern migrations....

Read the entire article here.

6 comments:

  1. Brother ZelphMay 13, 2008, 1:18:00 PM

    I think the church should give up on their quest to find evidence to support the Book of Mormon. Just declare the Book of Mormon to be an allegory and not a literal history already.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Clair BarrusMay 13, 2008, 1:48:00 PM

    Zelph, thats an interesting Idea. But a huge step that has a lot of implications attached to it.

    I thought this article was worth reading that is related to this topic:

    http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/miracles-mormons-and-harry-emerson-fosdick-the-challenge-of-inoculation/

    ReplyDelete
  3. Brother ZelphMay 13, 2008, 4:10:00 PM

    Thanks for the link. I know there are a lot of implications and perhaps the church doesn't have to officially say that the BoM is an allegory and not literal story, but they can stop this intellectual dishonesty and just declare that the truthfulness to the BoM will only be manifest by the spirit and not through physical evidence, then close shop on the NWAF and use that money into other educational programs. Or use that money to give to poor people.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bored in VernalMay 14, 2008, 1:13:00 AM

    Why I don't think DNA and the BoM mix here.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Clair BarrusMay 14, 2008, 12:15:00 PM

    Thanks. I'll check it out.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Clair BarrusMay 14, 2008, 12:17:00 PM

    Hey - Bored in Vernal - do you know any Calders in Vernal? My wife's Dad grew up in Vernal. We go their for reunions.

    ReplyDelete

Comment: