Hi, Patricia Thank you so much for your very wonderful elaboration of this topic. I am aware that the media covers new scientific discoveries, however, my bent is science and I guess I need to have directions to the science community for explanations before I go to the public media world. There are many educational aspects being given light thanks to the media. But, I know too that the media has only a limited amount of space or time to expose new findings. And, I get very concerned when a diet is cited as a source of information, which was done in this stream. It is easy to get caught up in the heat of the moment and grab onto something that may be a partial truth or an outright misrepresentation. My caution is to investigate further items of discussion here. The discussion is very interesting and seems to have engaged many on the list and that is a good thing. The discussion is a wonderful opportunity to learn new things and to share new learning. But we all need to check out the information for validity and reliability. Thanks so much. Beth On 2/2/07, Patricia <[email protected]> wrote: > Beth states: <You are quite absolutely correct. Geneticists do study the > identifiable characteristics of genes. However, well before geneticists came to be, hematologists provided the same sort of information. For example, in the 1970s I had a hematologist explain > the sources of my blood group and its genotype. While DNA examination has grown by leaps and bounds, the story for me remains essentially the same. My request is that I want to know the credentials of persons supplying the information.> > > Beth, > You are right in asking for credentials, but there are many aspects of science that are rather commonplace because of the media. Every genetic "breakthrough" is highly publicized, so that one would have to be a hermit not to know something of the science of DNA. The basic concepts are not that hard. > > And, it is true that the intricacies of blood type go well beyond the TYPE. I understand that even though one says they are type O, A, B, etc., there's a "long line" of definition behind that letter designation, which involve science that is not for the faint of heart. > > I'm not a scientist, but never miss the show Forensic Files, and I'm also remebering some things from Biology, and what a nurse-friend of mine told me. > > Forensic Files is a TV show that demonstrates the solving of real crimes by real police and real scientists. My cousin has also had his Y-DNA tested to determine from where we came in Ireland, and I have been the one to read through and explain his results in layman's terms. (Note, my previous post.) Not all of the science of DNA is beyond the scope of a person motivated to understand it. There is no statement that Michael makes that is incorrect, and you may verify his knowledge through many web sites, especially the Family Tree DNA site that he suggested. > > Blood used to be the "gold standard" in forensics, but it has been replaced by DNA. I believe, if memory serves me, DNA carries the instructions for the blood type. I also remember a day when paternity was proven through blood type, yet still was subject to dispute! > > Now DNA proves paternity to 99.9% accuracy! Because one level of science replaces another in certain things, doesn't mean the other is wrong, or is of no use. A doctor would be way out of bounds requesting a DNA test, when something can be shown through blood work. It would be like using a chain saw to trim a 1 foot bush! > > On a purely personal level, it doesn't matter to a person who has a disease, where the disease entered the genetic line...that doesn't currently affect treatment...nor does it give the person with the disease any comfort knowing that a mutation occurred 100 years, or 1 million years ago! > > And none of this DNA info is meant to discount the blood disorder being discussed, which was correctly diagnosed through hematology. To me as a layperson, it doesn't matter which came first, blood tests or DNA research, but how they work together! > > Another fascinating aspect of all the DNA/genome studies is the revelation that chimpanzees and humans share 98% of their genetic makeups. I began reading up on this, but the discussion goes into "protein and enzyme reactions" and that is where I'm over my head. This fascinating study is easily found by searching "human and chimp genome studies" on the Net, if anyone is interested in the research. > > Patricia > > ====Irish American Mailing List===== > Add/check your surname to the Irish-American mailing list Surname Registry at: http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/IrishAmerican/ > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > -- Elizabeth W. Tordella, MS, RN

Elizabeth, If you will check back to January's messages, you will find that in reply to your comment, I mentioned that in addition to the DNA evidence, there was also blood type evidence which had to do with a rare blood type common among the Irish and also among the Berbers of North Africa as cited in the book "The Course of Irish History" from the 1960's, which BTW is available new or used from Amazon.com and other dealers. Then in response to a question, I referred to a website which states that type O blood is common both among the Irish, Basques of Spain, and among the Berbers of North Africa, a scientific fact which to my knowledge is undisputed. It also makes reference to recent mtDNA studies which we were discussing. At that point, I did not think that type O was a rare type as it explicitly states in the website article that it is the most common type, at about 40-45%. Rather, since I had first read about the blood type comparison many years ago, I was only suggesting this as a possibility concerning the book reference which was also a TV documentary at the time. I wasn't making any statement as to the validity of the conclusions reached by the person who wrote the book about dieting on the website. Later, when someone made reference to a person who thought that type O blood was a rare type, I stated that I merely referred to the fact of type O blood being more prevalent relatively speaking among certain groups, and not to imply that it was a rare type. I then checked for other sources to determine whether there was in fact a rare blood type relatively common among certain groups, and then discovered that I had been right the first time, citing another website which again specifies another undisputed scientific fact, that blood type Rh-negative blood is indeed common, relatively speaking, among the Irish, Basques of Spain, and Berbers of North Africa. I am not saying that the conclusions reached by the authors of either article, or of the book for that matter, are correct. Each person may draw their own conclusions from scientific facts. Michael O'Hearn --- Elizabeth Tordella <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi, Patricia > > Thank you so much for your very wonderful > elaboration of this topic. > I am aware that the media covers new scientific > discoveries, however, > my bent is science and I guess I need to have > directions to the > science community for explanations before I go to > the public media > world. > > There are many educational aspects being given light > thanks to the > media. But, I know too that the media has only a > limited amount of > space or time to expose new findings. And, I get > very concerned when a > diet is cited as a source of information, which was > done in this > stream. > > It is easy to get caught up in the heat of the > moment and grab onto > something that may be a partial truth or an outright > misrepresentation. My caution is to investigate > further items of > discussion here. The discussion is very interesting > and seems to have > engaged many on the list and that is a good thing. > The discussion is a > wonderful opportunity to learn new things and to > share new learning. > But we all need to check out the information for > validity and > reliability. > > Thanks so much. > > Beth > > > > On 2/2/07, Patricia <[email protected]> wrote: > > Beth states: <You are quite absolutely correct. > Geneticists do study the > > identifiable characteristics of genes. However, > well before geneticists came to be, hematologists > provided the same sort of information. For example, > in the 1970s I had a hematologist explain > > the sources of my blood group and its genotype. > While DNA examination has grown by leaps and bounds, > the story for me remains essentially the same. My > request is that I want to know the credentials of > persons supplying the information.> > > > > Beth, > > You are right in asking for credentials, but > there are many aspects of science that are rather > commonplace because of the media. Every genetic > "breakthrough" is highly publicized, so that one > would have to be a hermit not to know something of > the science of DNA. The basic concepts are not that > hard. > > > > And, it is true that the intricacies of blood > type go well beyond the TYPE. I understand that > even though one says they are type O, A, B, etc., > there's a "long line" of definition behind that > letter designation, which involve science that is > not for the faint of heart. > > > > I'm not a scientist, but never miss the show > Forensic Files, and I'm also remebering some things > from Biology, and what a nurse-friend of mine told > me. > > > > Forensic Files is a TV show that demonstrates > the solving of real crimes by real police and real > scientists. My cousin has also had his Y-DNA tested > to determine from where we came in Ireland, and I > have been the one to read through and explain his > results in layman's terms. (Note, my previous post.) > Not all of the science of DNA is beyond the scope of > a person motivated to understand it. There is no > statement that Michael makes that is incorrect, and > you may verify his knowledge through many web sites, > especially the Family Tree DNA site that he > suggested. > > > > Blood used to be the "gold standard" in > forensics, but it has been replaced by DNA. I > believe, if memory serves me, DNA carries the > instructions for the blood type. I also remember a > day when paternity was proven through blood type, > yet still was subject to dispute! > > > > Now DNA proves paternity to 99.9% accuracy! > Because one level of science replaces another in > certain things, doesn't mean the other is wrong, or > is of no use. A doctor would be way out of bounds > requesting a DNA test, when something can be shown > through blood work. It would be like using a chain > saw to trim a 1 foot bush! > > > > On a purely personal level, it doesn't matter to > a person who has a disease, where the disease > entered the genetic line...that doesn't currently > affect treatment...nor does it give the person with > the disease any comfort knowing that a mutation > occurred 100 years, or 1 million years ago! > > > > And none of this DNA info is meant to discount > the blood disorder being discussed, which was > correctly diagnosed through hematology. To me as a > layperson, it doesn't matter which came first, blood > tests or DNA research, but how they work together! > > > > Another fascinating aspect of all the DNA/genome > studies is the revelation that chimpanzees and > humans share 98% of their genetic makeups. I began > reading up on this, but the discussion goes into > "protein and enzyme reactions" and that is where I'm > over my head. This fascinating study is easily > found by searching "human and chimp genome studies" > on the Net, if anyone is interested in the research. > > > > Patricia > > > > ====Irish American Mailing List===== > > Add/check your surname to the Irish-American > mailing list Surname Registry at: > http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/IrishAmerican/ > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email > to [email protected] with the word > 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and > the body of the message > > > > > -- > Elizabeth W. Tordella, MS, RN > > ====Irish American Mailing List===== > Add/check your surname to the Irish-American mailing > list Surname Registry at: > http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/IrishAmerican/ > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email > to [email protected] with the word > 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and > the body of the message > Michael O'Hearn ____________________________________________________________________________________ Need Mail bonding? Go to the Yahoo! Mail Q&A for great tips from Yahoo! Answers users. http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/?link=list&sid=396546091