International specialists assault the alleged DNA of Columbus: “Commenting on this is like commenting on aliens” | Science | EUROtoday

Some of the world’s finest researchers within the area of DNA present their astonishment on the means during which the outcomes of the evaluation of the supposed stays of Columbus have been revealed. The particular person accountable for this work, the University of Granada forensic scientist José Antonio Lorente, identified that Columbus was in all probability a Sephardic Jew who lived on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. The proposal goes in opposition to the primary historic currents, which preserve that the navigator was Genoese. The proposal is allegedly based mostly on the partial evaluation of DNA extracted from the alleged bones of Columbus and people of his brother Hernando. What surprises and scares scientists is that every one these statements have been revealed by a “film”, in Lorente’s personal phrases, co-produced by Spanish Television, and which achieved a report viewers of greater than two million viewers final 12 months. October 12. A number of days earlier than, Spanish Television itself used its viewers chief program, The Revolt by David Broncano, to publicize this documentary amongst its three and a half million viewers. All with out a single impartial opinion or a single critical revealed information.

The story about Columbus’ DNA has gone world wide and has been reproduced by prestigious media, with out together with a single crucial voice or impartial opinions. The transfer by Lorente, who has been monopolizing the examine of the supposed bones of Columbus for greater than 20 years, and by Spanish Television, the sources consulted for this report denounce, is an assault in opposition to the scientific methodology and the standard means of disseminating new outcomes to in order that some other laptop can entry them and detect errors.

Saying that Columbus was a Sephardic Jew born within the Iberian Peninsula appears simple by invoking the facility of DNA, however in actuality it’s unimaginable, as all of the specialists consulted by this newspaper additionally bear in mind. Researchers warn that this unfounded announcement tarnishes the status of the complete scientific group. Since the documentary aired, Lorente has mentioned that he won’t reply any questions till he holds a press convention in November to current the outcomes. The researcher has assured that they are going to be revealed in a world scientific journal in order that they’re freely accessible to all researchers and specialists, though, for now, nobody has seen these information.

David Reich, a researcher at Harvard University (United States) is among the most revered scientists on the planet within the area of historical DNA. The scientist feels trapped by this concern. “We need the data to be available, otherwise it is impossible to know if it is correct,” he explains. “It is not trivial to confirm that a person is related to a group [como los judíos sefardíes]. From the type of analysis that has been described it seems that there is no basis to say that there is a connection with medieval Spanish Jews. Before we can believe such a statement, all the evidence and data must be published. Furthermore, it would be desirable for an independent laboratory, one that does not depend on a television documentary, to analyze the DNA to confirm the results,” says Reich, who’s a descendant of Jews who got here to Europe fleeing the Holocaust.

In 2003, the field containing the supposed bones of Christopher Columbus, buried within the cathedral of Seville on the finish of the nineteenth century, was opened. It was a whitish mess of bones—150 grams—damaged and combined with dust and dirt. The sailor’s mortal stays had beforehand rested in Valladolid, Santo Domingo and Havana. Lorente has acknowledged that the little DNA that he has supposedly managed to extract is “very degraded.”

In a case like this, forensic specialists are confronted with two forms of genetic exams. The most dependable is nuclear DNA, the place the overwhelming majority of an individual’s genome is saved and which gives particulars about their ancestry. But on this case, solely one other kind of DNA has been rescued, the mitochondrial and the Y chromosome, which is handed straight from moms and dads to youngsters, respectively. Lorente has not specified how a lot DNA he has rescued. According to the scientist, the stays of Columbus’ supposed son, Hernando, present Jewish ancestry and a supposed origin on the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula.

Perhaps probably the most forceful of all of the specialists consulted is Johannes Krause, director of the Max Planck Center for Evolutionary Anthropology. “I am not going to comment on any research presented in a TV documentary,” he explains. “If I did, I would also have to give my opinion on aliens, flat-earthism, Atlantis and other pseudoscience.”

Geneticist Iñigo Olalde, Reich’s collaborator and knowledgeable in historical DNA on the University of the Basque Country, highlights the weak spot of the proof offered even supposing Lorente has spent 20 years attempting to extract DNA from the bones of Columbus and his family. “From a technical point of view it would not be crazy to have sequenced the entire genome. Those responsible for this work should have counted on the experts who analyzed ancient DNA, samples that are thousands of years old, and from which we managed to extract very complete genomes. They have not even attempted to use the latest sequencing techniques available. The Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA give a very partial view of a person’s ancestry. And also, having made many failed attempts, they have probably already wasted many bone samples,” he warns.

Biologist Juan Carlos Martínez-Cruzado has labored for years analyzing the DNA of Latin American populations to reconstruct the historical past of their native peoples previous to the conquest. “Until now there is not enough knowledge about Sephardic haplotypes to conclusively conclude that the remains of an individual have that origin,” he explains. Mitochondrial DNA may provide extra conclusive outcomes if it had been true that within the time of Columbus the blending of the Sephardim with the Iberians had been minimal, “but what has been published so far is that it was consistent with being the same as that of his brother.” , which now seems that he was not his brother, however a second or third cousin,” warns Martínez-Cruzado. “Let us remember that this result was used to affirm that those remains were truly those of Christopher Columbus. Now the question arises whether these remains really belong to the great admiral. All of this is and will remain speculative until the day the data is published through the peer review method,” says the researcher. Despite the dearth of proof, “it will be very difficult to reverse the belief that Columbus was a Sephardic Jew born in Spain if this conclusion turns out to be false,” he provides. “The world at large believes that if a conclusion was reached based on DNA studies, then that conclusion is true. “There is a dangerously blind faith in DNA studies.”

Rasmus Nielsen, from the University of California at Berkeley, warns of one other hazard. “This analysis suffers from genetic essentialism by equating nationalities with genetic groups. Ethnicities are actually much more complex and there is no complete correspondence between a person’s DNA and their ethnicity,” he highlights. For his half, Harald Ringbauer, chief of archaeogenetics on the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, believes that Lorente is smearing the remainder of the scientists. “Revealing results in the media without peer review calls into question the credibility of the entire field. It is possible that they could only extract very small or even contaminated fragments of DNA from the bones, which is always a danger in this type of study. In Spain, there are exceptional scientists in this field, and it would be a shame to call their work into question with these sensational advertisements,” he says.

Taras Oleksyk, geneticist at Oakland University (United States) and collaborator of the Genome Europe mission, can be blunt. “For scientists,” he says, Lorente’s statements are “illegitimate” as a result of they don’t meet probably the most primary requirements. “Such extraordinary claims about a character as important as Columbus need to meet the highest quality standards and be reviewed by peers, the equivalent of courts in the world of science,” he particulars. “When there are scientists who announce results without going through this scrutiny, all the alarms go off,” he provides.