Bryan Sykes
Bryan Sykes is Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Oxford, and a Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford. He published the first report on retrieving DNA from ancient bone (Nature, 1989), and has been involved in high-profile cases dealing with ancient DNA, such as those of Ötzi the Iceman and Cheddar Man, as well as those by people claiming to be members of the Romanovs—the Russian royal family. His work also suggested a Florida accountant by the name of Tom Robinson was a direct descendant of Genghis Khan, a claim that was subsequently disputed.[1][2][3][4].
Sykes is best known for his popular science books and as the founder of Oxford Ancestors, a genealogical DNA testing firm.
British clans
He has elaborated on British clans in his 2006 book, Blood of the Isles (published in the US and Canada as Saxons, Vikings and Celts: The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland), where he has argued that neither Anglo-Saxons nor other population groups had much impact on the genetics of the inhabitants of the British Isles with the exception of the Iberians, and that British ancestry can be traced back mainly to Spain instead.[5][6]
In his book Blood of the Isles, he states:
| “ |
...the presence of large numbers of Jasmine’s Oceanic clan, says to me that there was a very large-scale movement along the Atlantic sea board north from Iberia, beginning as far back as the early Neolithic and perhaps even before that. The number of exact and close matches between the maternal clans of western and northern Iberia and the western half of the Isles is very impressive, much more so than the much poorer matches with continental Europe.[7] |
” |
| “ |
The genetic evidence shows that a large proportion of Irish Celts, on both the male and female side, did arrive from Iberia at or about the same time as farming reached the Isles. The connection to Spain is also there in the myth of Brutus………. This too may be the faint echo of the same origin myth as the Milesian Irish and the connection to Iberia is almost as strong in the British regions as it is in Ireland. Picts….. They are from the same mixture of Iberian and European Mesolithic ancestry that forms the Pictish/Celtic substructure of the Isles.[8] |
” |
| “ |
Here again, the strongest signal is a Celtic one, in the form of the clan of Oisin, which dominates the scene all over the Isles. The predominance in every part of the Isles of the Atlantic chromosome (the most frequent in the Oisin clan), with its strong affinities to Iberia, along with other matches and the evidence from the maternal side convinces me that it is from this direction that we must look for the origin of Oisin and the great majority of our Y-chromosomes. The sea routes of the atlantic fringe conveyed both men and women to the Isles.[9] |
” |
Japanese clans
Sykes is currently using the same methods he used in The Seven Daughters of Eve to identify the nine "clan mothers" of Japanese ancestry, "all different from the seven European equivalents."[10]
References
- ^ Tom Robinson (June 16, 2006), Genghis Khan or Not? That is the Question., Self published, <http://trrobinson.com/2006/06/16/genghis-khan-or-not--that-is-the-question.aspx>. Retrieved on 2007-10-09
- ^ Matching Genghis Khan, familytreedna.com, <http://www.familytreedna.com/matchgenghis.html>. Retrieved on 2007-10-09
- ^ How I am related to Genghis Khan, The Times, May 30, 2006, <http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2202048,00.html>. Retrieved on 2007-10-09
- ^ http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/14864728.htm [dead link – history]
- ^ Ian Johnston, We're nearly all Celts under the skin, The Scotsman, <http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1393742006>. Retrieved on 2007-10-09
- ^ 2 Ancient Britons come mainly from Spain, Daily Mail, September 20, 2006, <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=406108&in_page_id=1770&in_page_id=1770&expand=true#StartComments 2>. Retrieved on 2007-10-09
- ^ Sykes 2006, p. 280
- ^ Sykes 2006, pp. 281-282
- ^ Sykes 2006, p. 283
- ^ Japanese women seek their ancestral roots in Oxford by Tessa Holland, 25 June 2006, reprinted from Crisscross News
Bibliography
- Bryan Sykes (2002), The Seven Daughters of Eve, Corgi, ISBN 0552148768, <http://books.google.com/books?id=zKyPAAAACAAJ&dq=%22The+Seven+Daughters+of+Eve%22&ei=8LcKR8GtBZT6pwKJpoDTCA>
- Bryan Sykes (2003), Adam's Curse: A Future Without Men, Bantam, ISBN 0593050045, <http://books.google.com/books?id=ckcxAAAACAAJ&dq=%22A+Future+Without+Men%22&ei=hbcKR-nSC6T8pwLBqIjTCA>
- Sykes, Bryan (1999), The Human Inheritance: Genes, Language, and Evolution, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0198502745, <http://books.google.com/books?id=rw2YhuiYlKgC&dq=%22The+Human+Inheritance:+Genes,+Language,+and+Evolution%22&ei=crYKR9jFGZeUpwLxtojTCA>
- Bryan Sykes (1999), The Human Inheritance: Genes, Language, and Evolution, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0198502745, <http://books.google.com/books?id=rw2YhuiYlKgC&dq=%22The+Human+Inheritance:+Genes,+Language,+and+Evolution%22&ei=qbgKR6_QMKOGpwLEwf3SCA>
- Sykes, Bryan (2006), Blood of the Isles: Exploring the Genetic Roots of Our Tribal History, Bantam, ISBN 0593056523, <http://books.google.com/books?id=tJkyAAAACAAJ&dq=%22Blood+of+the+Isles%22&ei=fbIKR9r0FqOOpwLs0YDTCA></ref>
External links
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sykes, Brian |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | geneticist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
