Adventure Ausrama Blog

Arriving Europeans plundered Australia for human bones to show in their museums. They took skeletal remains of thousands of Aboriginals. Not surprising the descendants of the deceased Australians want to bury them in this country. Because most "specimens" were taken over recent centuries, the DNA in them is still detectable. Tests are being done to compare DNA from bones with Aboriginals living today in order to find matches. The work is being done by Griffith University in Queensland. Though only a few matchups have been done in the world - remains were returned to North American Indians using the method - native people are interested in doing it. Tapij Wales an elder of the Thanynakwith people in Cape York requested tests be done. The main problem is that many claiming Aboriginality today have a mix of European and Aboriginal genes. Moreover, many natives were removed by European settlers to other regions. The arrival of new settlers was a violent period in Australia...

We are entering a brave new world where DNA will be accurately read to predict eye color, distance between the eyes and nose shape. This will greatly improve police work in solving serious crime. Even knowing whether a suspect is bald is helpful. Genes contain single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs).  These can now show whether someone is probably bald. We have some way to go because of the complex interaction of male and female chromosomes. A rough composite picture will be soon be available. This can be used to screen out suspects. Facial metrics is advancing rapidly. Analysis of insulin-like growth hormone (IGF-1) and human growth hormone (HGH) can give a rough picture of build and height. The importance of mitochondrial DNA which passes along the female line is well known. This can predict ancestry using Y chromosome (NRY) and autosomal markers. Patterns for Europeans, white Americans and East Asians have been identified. In the future the crime rate could be signifi...