Tuesday, August 7, 2012

CEU & the Spreadsheet of World9

So, there are a lot of new genetic calculators out there, and they do not all agree with each other.  That has to be said from the get-go, since if you go to Gedmatch with your DNA kit number and use the admixture page, you could find a calculator to say you are practically anyone.  There are recurrent themes, however, and plenty to indicate that SOMETHING is true about what you see.

(The fact that it is called "Oracle" -- another little interesting quasi-religious nod to a self-described genetic mystic.....although I'm not sure the authors and creators would agree.)

Anyway, ponder this as the components for the average "Central European from Utah".  (these are percentages)---

CEU30 - 22 participants sampled


Amerindian =  0.4
East Asian = 0.2
African = 0.3
Atlantic/Baltic = 75.3
Australasian = 0.2
Siberian = 0.3
Caucasus/Gedorosia - 11.1
Southern - 11.3
South Asian = 1

World9 Spreadsheet, Dodecad


So, some will say that the small numbers are noise -- they might be.  Noise is a concept I need to explore further.  There are plenty out there who believe 'noise' just means you cannot find an adequate scientific or historical rationale for a certain group showing up in your particular group.  Others say it is just a math problem.  I'm not sure, but I find this interesting to contemplate.

As you look at the spreadsheet, you can find some surprising places for Amerindian -- I will just put those that are above 0.4 -- (CEU level):

Russian_D @ 0.7

Irish_D @ 0.6

German_D @ 0.5

Finnish_D @ 0.8

Swedish_D @ 0.5

British Isles @ 0.4

Kurd D@ 0.7

 I am interested in Amerindian DNA occurring in groups where the average citizen would assume it doesn't "belong" for a variety of reasons.  Mormonism has a long, complicated and often overlooked relationship with Native Americans.  I have seen it described as a "colonializing" relationship, which certainly has a ring of truth to it, but I'm interested in another possibility.  Relationships that could perhaps still be called "colonializing", but on a more personal, one-to-one level, done through the institute of marriage.    While I realize it is premature and likely misleading to take the above numbers too seriously, I still want to know what is really being measured.  And, I have this hunch that certain of the founders of Mormonism had authentic Amerindian DNA.  The CEU sample would likely be a conglomerate of the early Colonial Americans, British, Danish and other miscellaneous countries that formed the original 'founding families' of Mormonism.  So, likely those who took the samples had no interest in focusing only on those with early American ancestry, which would give a better picture of who early colonialist Americans were, not just early Mormons.

One other possibility, probably more likely, is that those numbers reflect some very ancient relationship, before the proto-Native American crossed the Bering Straits.  Some of my calculators were showing a higher percentage for Native American for me than I thought possible, given my calculations for the genetic contributions of the persons in my tree with the most "American" of origins.
My dad's Harappa World percentages


 
I am related to early colonial Americans through both my mother and father.  My dad's side links to Joseph Smith.  The link goes through his paternal grandmother.  The remainder of his ancestors are recent immigrants from England or Denmark.  This means that only 25% of his DNA traces to America.  Of this 25%, much is known, or claimed to be known -- We have a line of Scots Irish, some Irish, Palatine Germans, French Huguenots, English and Scottish.  My theory is that Solomon Mack, Joseph Smith's maternal grandfather, would be one of those more likely to have some sort of Native American ancestry (for reasons I will continue to elaborate).  Solomon Mack is my father's 5th Great Grandfather. Presuming boldly and inaccurately that Solomon Mack was 100% Native American (which clearly is not true), he would still only contribute 0.78125% to my dad's DNA.

 It would be fun to assume that this somehow gives credence to the numbers shown in the percentages to the right, however, I found out something else is likely going on, and likely indicates what Harappa World is picking up on is an ancient affiliation with Native Americans.  At least for this stretch of DNA shown below -- which appears on my dad's 8th chromosome.


This stretch of DNA on my dad's 8th chromosome also registered as Native American when analyzed by Douglas McDonald, a retired professor who will most kindly analyze this
data.  He said the Amerindian that was appearing in his results was most likely not real.  It shows up on the same chromosome though -- chromosome 8. 

I was able to do a segment analysis for that piece, and found out that my dad shares it with a woman from Finland -- meaning we likely have Finnish ancestry, and this is probably not through any of our colonial American ancestors.  However, it doesn't prove anything about whether or not Solomon Mack has Native American ancestry, because Solomon Mack didn't give all of his DNA to my dad....

Comparing me to my dad on Chromosome 8, where he has his highest incidence of "Native American".  I only inherited a portion of this segment.  His chromosome is the first, and mine is the second. The third bar shows what we have in common.
   


My dad's chromosome painting from Doug McDonald.  Yes, the African stands out more than the American, and the American is probably Finnish.  Yes, I plan on discussing what I have found out about that soon.  No, Mormon mythology doesn't claim any sort of African identity.  Yes, Mormons have a strong history of verbal bias against Africans.  Yes, I think other persons of Mormon ancestry would be surprised if they had DNA tests done.  Yes, there is a tiny slice of green on chromosome 17, and I think THAT is real Native American.
  

P.S.

I found this from Davidski of Eurogenes and GEDmatch fame in relation to the ancient relationship of Amerindians and prehistoric "upper" Europeans-- he is helping someone else understand their results--

"Keep in mind that Europeans, and especially Northern, Central and Eastern Europeans, apparently share prehistoric ancestry with Amerindians...."