If you thought the DNA research on American Indians has been devastating for the Book of Mormon, it’s about to get even worse.
RESEARCH TO DATE
Until now, the bulk of human DNA genealogy research has focussed on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) or Y chromosome DNA (Y-DNA). This is because they have a simple pattern of inheritance. Mitochondrial DNA is passed from mothers to offspring and is used to track female pedigrees, while Y chromosome DNA is passed from father to son and is used to track male pedigrees. Over time, spelling changes in the DNA accumulate and these can be used to build trees of related DNA lineages.
Virtually all American Indians have mitochondrial DNA that belongs to the A, B, C, D or X lineage families, which all originated in Asia over 20,000 years ago. The once controversial X lineage is now acknowledged to be unconnected with the Book of Mormon period. en.fairmormon.org/Book_of_Mormon_and_DNA_evidence/Geography_issues/Haplotype_X2a
Y chromosomes most commonly found among American Indians fall into three major lineage classes. These are the Q, R and C lineages. The Q and C lineages have been shown to be derived from Asia, while the R lineage is derived from Europe. About 10% of American Indian Y chromosomes belong to the European lineage R.
There are two aspects of the mtDNA and Y-DNA research that give the apologists wiggle room for their pseudoscience.
Lineage extinction
The apologists are now arguing that a correct interpretation of the Book of Mormon narrative has the Lehites entering large pre-existing populations. Here the apologists argue that by sheer bad luck most, if not all, of the Lehite party’s mtDNA and Y-DNA lineages have been lost. They were swamped out by the DNA of the large pre-existing native populations.
Admixture
Israelites are related to Europeans and the two groups share similar mtDNA and Y-DNA lineages. Post-Columbus admixture between Europeans and American Indians can be argued by apologists to be possibly derived from Israel.
THE NEXT GENERATION OF HUMAN DNA RESEARCH
Human genetics is shifting its focus to the rest of our DNA, the DNA that resides on our chromosomes. Since the full human genome was sequenced in 2003, scientists have sequenced the entire genome of numerous individuals from Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas. There are millions of subtle differences in the sequences, most of which are called SNPs (pronounced snips), short for single nucleotide polymorphisms.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_nucleotide_polymorphisms
When scientists compared the genomes, they found hundreds of thousands of sequence differences (SNPS) between Europeans, Africans, Asians and American Indians. It is now possible, using a quick DNA test, to reveal hundreds of thousands of SNPs in an individuals DNA.
Both of the apologetic arguments described above will be utterly exposed by current research.
Lineage extinction
If you are a female and you have no daughters, your mtDNA lineage will not be passed to future generations. The apologists claim that Israelite mtDNA could have been lost this way. In reality, an identical mtDNA will likely be passed on to future generations by your sisters, your mother’s sisters and other closely related women descended from your direct maternal ancestors. The same is true for the men. Because there is this small chance of lineage extinction, the apologists like to claim that the Lehite group might have been VERY unlucky in the “genetic lottery” and their lineages lost.
The odds of losing that “genetic lottery” fall dramatically with the inheritance of chromosomal DNA. Any of your offspring will pass along your DNA as will any of your siblings and any of your close relatives. In the case of Lehi, if there is no chromosomal Lehite DNA then there were no Lehites.
Admixture
Now that thousands of SNPs that can distinguish American Indian vs European chromosomes have been identified, it is possible to estimate approximately when European DNA entered an American Indians family tree. Imagine for a moment the inheritance of a single American Indian chromosome with thousands of SNPs scattered along it that distinguish it from the equivalent European chromosome. In the generations soon after intermarriage, there will be long stretches of European chromosome and long stretches of American Indian chromosome (see figure below). Over time, as matching chromosomes recombine each generation, the length of the “intact” chromosomes will get shorter and shorter (see generation 20).
Inheritance of European and American Indian chromosomes
A = American DNA
E = European DNA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Generation 1
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Generation 2
EEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
AAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Generation 20
EEEEAAAAAAAEEEEEEEAAEAAAEEAAEEEAAAEEEEEAAEEAAAEEEAAEEEAAAEEE
AAAAEEEEAAAAEEEEEAAAAEEEEEEAAEEAEAEEAAAAEEAEEAAAEEAAAAEEEAAA
If European chromosomes entered an American Indian’s pedigree post-Columbus, the length of European chromosomes that are “intact” will be much longer than if the European DNA entered the pedigree several thousands of years ago.
Since there were no Lehites, there won’t be any sign of European DNA that arrived several thousand years ago.
|Just imagine. American Indians were clever enough to build their massive civilizations and develop their own sophisticated cultures and languages. They didn’t need some escapees from Israel to kick their civilizations into existence. How radical.