Eye on DNA Headlines for 3 January 2008

by Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei
Posted January 3, 2008 in Eye on DNA Headlines, Jobs Involving DNA

• Guardian Unlimited’s Alok Jha compiles a list of the scientific highlights of 2007 and includes genome-wide studies and the genetically modified food.
• “We, Formosans, are all Aborigines,” proclaims Professor Francis Lai of Lowell Massachusetts in the Taipei Times. He claims that scientists have found that Hoklo and Hakka-speaking Taiwanese share 85% of their genome with Formosan Aborigines. Prof. Lai believes this debunks the myth that Taiwanese have Han Chinese ancestry. So perhaps I am more exotic than I thought!
• If you or someone you know lost family during the Holocaust, you may be interested in the DNA Shoah Project. The DNA database will be used to identify the remains of Holocaust victims, reunite siblings and close relatives separated by World War II, and conduct genetic disease research (with consent).
• Suzanne In of Bitesize Bio has a great list of alternative careers for scientists. I have personally engaged in #5 business development, #8 science copy writing, #9 medical/technical writing, #10 science journalism, and #13 teaching. That leaves me about 10 to tackle although I think I’ll leave the lawyer one to Blaine.
• I’m going to be keeping an eye on io9, a new science fiction blog that’s part of the Gawker network. Lots of stuff that way out there, just like much of DNA tech. More about io9 at Biology in Science Fiction.

Tags: genetics, genes, dna, holocaust, scientists, jobs

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2 Comments »

Comment by razib

2008-01-03 19:39:31

We, Formosans, are all Aborigines,” proclaims Professor Francis Lai of Lowell Massachusetts in the Taipei Times. He claims that scientists have found that Hoklo and Hakka-speaking Taiwanese share 85% of their genome with Formosan Aborigines. Prof. Lai believes this debunks the myth that Taiwanese have Han Chinese ancestry. So perhaps I am more exotic than I thought!

there’s no detail on this. cavalli-sforza’s work suggested that south chinese clustered with southeast asians and north chinese with koreans & japanese, but newer work suggests that south chinese might be a hybrid population (male mediated gene flow from north china).

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Comment by Hsien-Hsien Lei, PhD

2008-01-04 11:25:47

Thanks, Razib. That makes a lot of sense. Most of us Chinese are admixed and it will be interesting when ancestry testing is refined enough to give each of us the kind of info you provided. In any case, Prof. Lai’s statement is almost certainly politically motivated given the situation between mainland China and Taiwan. eek

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