----- Original Message ----- From: <rooneytoon29@earthlink.net To: <LAORLEAN-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Friday, October 01, 2004 8:04 AM Subject: From Opelousas Daily World - Human Genome Project Genetic expert speaks about Acadians for genealogical society William Johnson / Louisiana Gannett News Posted on October 1, 2004 Dr. John P. Doucet, an expert in DNA research, will be the featured speaker for the Oct. 9 meeting of the Imperial St. Landry Genealogical and Historical Society. "He is combining two academic fields - medical science and history," Society President Estelle Perrault said. Doucet will speak on the importance of the ongoing Human Genome project and how people are affected in everyday life by their inherited genes. "He is looking at genes as they affect Louisiana, particularly Acadians," Perrault said. Perrault said Acadian society offers medical researchers a unique laboratory. The Acadians who came to Louisiana can trace their heritage to a small founding community of about 300 people. In order to survive, they tended to marry those who shared their language, religion and devotion to family. "It's a unique way to study genealogy. Until World War II, generally there was not much mixing of the population here," Perrault said. "With all my Acadian ancestors, I can trace them back to the early 1600s in Canada and then back to France." This stability of local families has allowed the study of the repeated instances of certain syndromes, traits or diseases in specific families. "With one particular disease, they can actually trace it back to a single couple. That is amazing," Perrault said. The 10 a. m. meeting, which is open to the public, will be in the Office Medical wing of Doctor's Hospital, I-49 South Service Road. Perrault called Doucet, on faculty of both Nicholls State University and the LSU Medical Center System, a renaissance man. "Dr. Doucet is a scientist, a poet, a playwright and a leading medical researcher," Perrault said. "He has a deep devotion to our state and the study of his Acadian ancestors." For more information, contact Perrault at 942-3332 or e-mail her emperrault@aol.com. Eula