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The Genographic Project

I was looking at all the projects that National Geographic Society is providing grants for when The Genographic Project caught my eye.

The Genographic Project, touted as a landmark study of the human journey, is the making of an atlas of the human journey, the tracing of our ancestors steps, where you and I really come from, and how did we get there from that group of African ancestors over 60000 years ago? It sounds phenomenal! A 5 year project involving scientists and IBM researches (for cutting edge genetic & computational technologies) entwining genetics, anthropology and technology. There are some phenomenal visuals about human migratory history in the site.

The exciting thing is, you can actually participate in this study. With a painless cheek swab you can sample your own DNA and submit it to the lab. Then the project people run a test to your DNA, it reveals your ancestry and the journeys that they made over 60000-10000 years ago!

The project director, Dr Spencer Wells, promises -
Your results will reveal your deep ancestry along a single line of direct descent (paternal or maternal) and show the migration paths they followed thousands of years ago. Your results will also place you on a particular branch of the human family tree. ... For example, if you are of African descent, your results will show the initial movements of your ancestors on the African continent, but will not reflect most of the migrations that have occurred within the past 10,000 years.
Enthralling, if you ask me!

Comments

Chax said…
nice to see you are actively blogging, I hope to spend more time reading your blog.

I got married last year. That was the end of my reading/blogging routine. You know how life is - at the very moment where you think you are at the peak, it throws you a banana peal, and there you go, bungling down like a misguided missile.

Not that I'm unhappy with my marriage, mind you. My wife is one of the best things that happened to me. It's just that I happened to see my blog and got reminded of that time. It seems so remote. Then I thought, what happened to those blogs that I used to eagerly read. First thing I did is to come to your page (I have a link). I felt very happy.

I don't even know why I'm telling you all this. The kind of feeling I'm experiencing just now is very close to a man who has just confessed a bygone mistake to his close friend.

I sleep with hope, now.

Thanks.
8 May 2008, 00:28:00
Incredibly Indian said…
Umm....please to be sharing how to get the slimy swap to the doctor uncle
9 May 2008, 15:11:00
Eastertide said…
Chax! Welcome back. I am glad that you told me all that. I feel like a partner in crime with your confession. You know, you are right to sleep with hope, for, all newly wedded people will return to elements of their former life after 2 years. you seem to be venturing out earlier :-) Go on, strum your guitar and hum a tune and write a post - on married life and other truths. we are all listening.

John-Galt: Click on the linked up to and click on the "Get Involved"tab. The good doctor has the details. It costs you 90+ bucks to get the kit though!
9 May 2008, 21:01:00
raj said…
True, truly awesome! I feel proud to say that, I have been a part of the project too... before you get your mind thinking, Hold on! I am no researcher, but, I let the project use my computer, since they use Grid Computing to use all IBM machine's idle time on the intranet,for this project and others in a time slice, and I signed up mine :) It had inspired me the first time I saw it, and coming to sending my sample for a DNA test, I am still not convinced by uncle Sam's gurantee of privacy!Go Genome! :)
12 May 2008, 15:52:00
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