Bryan Sykes - DNA USA- A Genetic Portrait of America [96] Unabri

Bryan Sykes - DNA USA: A Genetic Portrait of America

Read by Jack Curless, Unabridged, 96 kbps


http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dna-usa-bryan-sykes/1110785524?ean=9780871403582

Overview
Crisscrossing the continent, a renowned geneticist provides a groundbreaking examination of America through its DNA.

Bryan Sykes, one of the worldΓÇÖs leading geneticists and best-selling author of The Seven Daughters of Eve, sets his sights on America, one of the most genetically variegated countries in the world. Sykes embarks on a road tripΓÇöDNA testing kit in towΓÇöinterviewing genealogists, anthropologists, and everyday Americans, tracing AmericaΓÇÖs history along a double helix that stretches from the last Ice Age to the present day. What emerges is an unprecedented look into AmericaΓÇÖs genetic mosaic that challenges the very notion of how we perceive race and what it means to be an American.

Kirkus Reviews
Sykes (Human Genetics/Oxford Univ.; Saxons, Vikings, and Celts: The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland, 2006, etc.) combines history, science, travel and memoir in one grand exposition of what it means to be an "American." America, writes the author, is "where the genes of three great continents converge." Initially, it was Asian forebears that peopled the new world. Through analysis of mitochondrial DNA, the origins of Native Americans can be traced to three mother clusters arriving from Siberia and a fourth from Polynesia. The arrival dates, based on mitochondrial DNA mutation rates, establish a range of about 16,000 to 20,000 years ago. Unfortunately, high-handed methods toward Native tribes have created a rift that persists today, for what the scientists were doing was destroying beliefs that these natives have existed here forever. Not so for Americans of European or African descent. They know they came from elsewhere and are eager for all the details, as witness the thriving genealogy industry. Geneticists can use mitochondrial DNA as well as y-chromosome analysis, along with the latest DNA chip technologies, including "chromosomal painting." The latter allows experts to pinpoint selected blocks of genes on individual chromosomes that reflect a European, Asian or African ancestor. Traveling cross-country by train and car with his son and back again with a female assistant, Sykes gathered saliva samples for painting analysis. In a graceful text, the author delivers rich images of the American landscape, conversations with strangers, and historic asides on the waves of immigration, the Indian diasporas and the various federal laws that shaped the movements of people across the continent. In the end, Sykes provides the revelations of those salivary analyses: For the most part we are a motley crew, so much so as to give the lie to any idea that there are pure races or ethnicities. For that reason alone, the book should be celebrated. But Sykes should also be applauded for his skills as a storyteller, science expositor, travel companion and compassionate human being.

ScienceNews - Tina Hesman Saey
“As the author of The Seven Daughters of Eve and other books, Sykes is an old hand at writing about genetics for the general public. His experience shows as he deftly introduces highly technical information in reader-friendly ways… During his journey, Sykes encounters people who embrace DNA testing as a way to clear up messy genealogical records. He also meets skeptics, who see the technology as a way to discredit their cultural heritage. Sykes doesn't shy away from these criticisms, presenting a well-balanced view of the disparate attitudes.”

Publishers Weekly
AmericaΓÇÖs gorgeous mosaic emerges from its DNA in this fascinating if sometimes muddled treatise on genetics and genealogy. Oxford geneticist Sykes (The Seven Daughters of Eve) traveled across the United States collecting DNA samples, recording family histories, and gazing out the window of his train car. (His evocative landscapes are one of the bookΓÇÖs chief pleasures.) The resulting ΓÇ£chromosomal portraits,ΓÇ¥ painted by analyzing markers that correlate with African, European, or AsianΓÇôNative American populations, reveal DNA tell-tales of unsuspected centuries-old migrations and mixings: Mexican-American Catholics descended from Spanish Jews; white Southerners with substantial African-American ancestry; possible journeys from Europe to North America 10,000 years ago. Sykes gives lucid, entertaining explanations of new genetic techniques and their startling success at tracing familial ties across continents and millennia. But he often flounders in contradictory interpretations as he veers between deploring artificial ethnic categories and subtly endorsing them (ΓÇ£My pancreas functions on a combination of both African and European genesΓÇ¥)ΓÇöhis genetic testing company, Oxford Ancestors, helps British customers peg their forefathers as Viking, Saxon, or Celt. Still, SykesΓÇÖs history of hidden kinships and epic wanderings captures the imagination.