Recently in the United Kingdom nationhood has been a hot topic, especially in the area of Wales. An article by the BBC cites a study called the CYMRU DNA project which is asking the citizens of Wales with certain last names to take DNA tests which will help create an ancestral profile of the people of Wales. The project is hoped to shed light on the true origins of the Welsh community. The testing is done through a process of DNA analysis from an individual’s saliva specimen. I think this is a great example of the secular benefit of knowing your family’s history. As technology advances it affects how we think of our families and who is a part of our family tree. The Welsh are trying to put together a history of their nation using the latest known technology in human relationship analysis. It will be interesting to see how accurate these tests turn out to be and what significant data they uncover about their population.
Here are two recent articles which talk about the Cymru
project:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-29340077
http://www.green-bay.tv/news/2014/09/26/cymru-dna-wales-project-set-to-rewrite-welsh-history/
I wonder how this could help fill the gaps in family history.
ReplyDeleteThis does sound cool. I didn't know that the origin of Wales was in question. Hopefully the sample sheds some light on it.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting topic. I wonder if they could do similar stuff to trace the origins of the Native Americans back to Jerusalem like in the Book of Mormon. That'd be pretty rad.
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