Anthropology 105

Question Set on Bryan Sykes – DNA USA: A genetic portrait of America

Chapter 2: The nature of the evidence

1) How many genes does our complete genome (nuclear DNA) have?  P22

2) List 3 features of mDNA that make it ideal for reconstructing relationships (p 23)

3) Compare the # of base pairs of mDNA with nuclear DNA.

4) What is the mDNA control region? (p 24)

5) What is the mDNA mutation rate?

Chapter 6:  The Genetic Genealogical Revolution

Who was Sally Hemings and what did we learn about her through DNA analysis?

Chapter 8: The Jews

Who were the conversos?  What family beliefs and behaviors does a Y chromosome analysis help explain for some people in the Americas?

Chapter 10: I am Zulu

1) Why is the Y chromosome especially hard to trace for African Americans?

2) What is “proprietary diffusion”?  (related to “aristocratic diffusion” and “non-paternity events”).

3) What is the “superclan of Lalamika”?

4) What is the “superclan of Latasha”?

5) What can they tell us about the history of slavery?

6) Who is Rick Kettle and what did he learn about his ancestry from an analysis of his Y chromosome?

Chapter 11:  All my ancestors

1) All men in the world today can trace their ancestry back to a single Y chromosome how many years ago?

2) All men and women in the world today can trace their ancestry back to a single mDNA how many years ago?

3) Why are the dates different?