When genetics and history compete, who wins?
By Newamul Khan
ARTICLE EXTRAS
Until recently, the best attempts at genealogic inquiry have cleaved to myth and history, both rife with imprecision. In a postgenomic era, however, one would assume that genealogy has been transformed. Modern phylogenetics offers seductive possibilities, synthesizing molecular genetics, statistics, and computation. The discipline traffics in haplotypes, but for the purposes of popularization, traditional narrative elements inevitably creep in. So, books in this infant field often practice a bait and switch. Promising groundbreaking science authors eventually fall back on the tricks of the historian or mythologist to enliven the data.
In his most recent effort, Saxons, Vikings, and Celts: The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland, Oxford geneticist Bryan Sykes demonstrates the promise and ultimate limitation of this endeavor. In exploring the Y and mitochondrial haplotypes, Sykes focuses mainly on the dominance of "Oisín." Named for the son of ...
