DNA from 200-year-old pipe

[odobenus]

Interesting stuff:
DNA from 200-year-old pipe sheds light on life of enslaved African woman

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/16/maryland-archaeology-study-slave-woman-dna-pipe-sierra-leone?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

 

[workman]

Interesting read. Thank you.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

Interesting. They could have provided a photo of the pipe, though.

 

[olkofri]

Told ya, guys, that you do get somebody else's slobbers with estate pipes! :P

 

[kcghost]

Good Read!!

 

[jvnshr]

Thanks for the article. It was an interesting read.

Interesting. They could have provided a photo of the pipe, though.

Here you go:

 

[mikethompson]

Told ya, guys, that you do get somebody else's slobbers with estate pipes!

haha!

 

[drwatson]

Very cool read.

 

[didimauw]

Before I die, I'm burning all my pipes so no one will know my dark secrets from my DNA.

 

[odobenus]

Before I die, I'm burning all my pipes so no one will know my dark secrets from my DNA.

Yes.

 

[cortezattic]

Thanks for the interesting link! :clap:

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Don't worry guys. The only secrets that aren't safe are whether your parents were siblings, and then you'd have to burn your kids too. But... nevermind, well, on second thought... I didn't mean to suggest that... well... JK ::

 

[5star]

Fascinating read. Thanks for posting it.

 

[didimauw]

I did do the ancestry DNA kit, the one where u spit into a tube....took a long time to fill it up to the line where it needed to be. Turns out I could have just sent in a pipe instead! Haha

 

[mso489]

Someone in my family did the DNA test kit for ancestry. I must say, the information was not particularly illuminating. It gave a high percent to the nations of origin already known, and really vague guesswork on everything else. I don't think they have enough DNA from less Westernized and industrialized countries, so that information is slapdash. The idea suggested by the TV advertisements for these kits, that it is somehow going to generate unlikely family reunions or give a firm link to some famous historical ancestor seems, from this example, totally bogus. Save your sixty bucks (or whatever the current price is) and do the usual paper and online research to track your roots, if you find that interesting.

 

[5star]

I recently read an article about a scarf that its owner claims was taken from the scene of a crime committed by Jack the Ripper. DNA was taken from the scarf and matched to those of current ancestors of various suspects. ( Without those relatives being told the true purpose of the DNA tests.) - - The whole affair turned into a mess. They didn't have proof that the scarf was actually taken (by a policeman) from the crime scene, who had handled it, and where it had been in the intervening years. The people named as Jack the Ripper's progeny weren't real pleased with the whole shoddy affair.

 

[aldecaker]

"Told ya, guys, that you do get somebody else's slobbers with estate pipes!"
I was gonna bid on that one, too! It was listed as "completely sanitized and ready to smoke".

 

[mso489]

Don't obsess on slobber. Most of us serenely use what we hope is properly washed silverware at restaurants. I'm waiting for a reconsideration of the efficacy of forensic DNA. I actually believe it is generally accurate, but it depends a lot on the sample and the lab and the expertise, so may be more like 85% than 98%.

 

[mso489]

Don't obsess on slobber. Most of us serenely use what we hope is properly washed silverware at restaurants. I'm waiting for a reconsideration of the efficacy of forensic DNA. I actually believe it is generally accurate, but it depends a lot on the sample and the lab and the expertise, so may be more like 85% than 98%.