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Rowan University participates in the Genographic Project ancestral study

Rowan University associate professor Kathleen Pereles had no idea she had Native American aboriginal roots. "We're Eskimo?" her daughter asked incredulously after hearing the initial results of an ancestry study undertaken in a university honors program Pereles coordinates.

Who's your daddy's daddy's daddy's daddy's . . . ? At Rowan University, (from left) Danielle Christal, Patricia Mosto and Maria Rosado took part in genographic testing. (Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer)
Who's your daddy's daddy's daddy's daddy's . . . ? At Rowan University, (from left) Danielle Christal, Patricia Mosto and Maria Rosado took part in genographic testing. (Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer)Read more

Rowan University associate professor Kathleen Pereles had no idea she had Native American aboriginal roots.

"We're Eskimo?" her daughter asked incredulously after hearing the initial results of an ancestry study undertaken in a university honors program Pereles coordinates.

The DNA in Pereles' cheek cells revealed that the management professor's maternal ancestors traveled from Africa, north to Siberia, across the Bering Strait into North America more than 15,000 years ago.

"They didn't get anywhere near Europe," said Pereles, who had expected some sign of her mother's Austrian-Scottish lineage.

The unexpected finding was one of many received by 60 Rowan students and 10 faculty members participating in the Genographic Project, a worldwide investigation launched in 2005 by National Geographic and IBM.

"It's amazing that, from swiping your cheek with a toothbrush thing, they can tell so much about you," said Danielle Christal, 20, of Parsippany, Morris County, who is part of the semesterlong study.

The group joined more than 300,000 public participants who have purchased $100 DNA-gathering kits online. Scientists in Arizona analyze the cells for genetic mutations or markers that link people to geographically oriented "haplogroups." From that, researchers generate a confidential migratory map and narrative for each participant.

At the same time, 11 teams are collecting DNA from 100,000 indigenous peoples worldwide. Theodore Schurr, an associate anthropology professor and consulting curator at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, leads the North American team.

By comparing the relatively unaltered DNA of indigenous peoples in remote Brazil, China, Russia and other countries with DNA mutations found in other participants, researchers hope to map the migration of humankind over 150,000 years.

"All of us are mixed in one form or another," said Rowan anthropology professor Maria Rosado, who will use students' results in an honors human ecology class she co-teaches. "At the end, it shows our common humanity."

The project has traced all human roots to Africa about 60,000 years ago, which Rosado said some students "simply won't accept."

"Many people have their own reasons," she said. "To me, it's an overwhelming body of scientific evidence."

Christal, a sophomore elementary education and writing major, said she found the biology a bit confusing. But she was fascinated to learn that her ancestors had wandered Scandinavia thousands of years ago. Christal knew only of her Irish and Italian roots.

"I don't know anyone who can trace their history back 50,000 years," she said.

In addition to genetics, the Genographic Project hopes to answer historical questions about language, geography, colonialism, war and commerce. Funding comes in part from IBM and the California-based Waitt Family Foundation.

The Rowan students are studying the project's science and will map the university's collective results and write reflective papers.

Because it's not a genealogical search, the Genographic Project doesn't help participants identify their grandmother's grandmother. Rather, it's a "deep ancestral study," said Spencer Wells, a National Geographic "explorer-in-residence" and the project's director.

"We take up where genealogy leaves off - in homelands tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of years ago," he said. "We're asking questions like, 'How did the Spaniards get to Spain?' "

Wells said biology, history and language teachers, from elementary schools to universities, have incorporated the project into their lessons. The public's interest has amazed him, he said.

Women are studied through mitochondrial DNA, found in eggs, and men through the Y chromosome.

Students Ann Marie and Tom Cosentino, siblings from Brookside, Morris County, with Irish and Czechoslovakian heritage, each followed the genetic trail of one parent.

Their mother's people migrated into Saudi Arabia and India, and their father's cut through the Middle East into Siberia over to Celtic Europe.

"I kind of like the cold, so it makes sense," joked Tom Cosentino, 20, a chemical engineering major.

The Genographic Project "is going to change the way we view race and ethnicity," Cristina Iftode, associate professor of biology, told students in a lecture last Monday. "In genetic terms, there is no race."

Ethical controversies could arise from the DNA data, including disputes over ancient land ownership, Iftode said.

Pereles said the students had previously debated ethical issues related to genetic research, including designer babies and insurance companies' access to information. She expected the Genographic Project to prompt more discussion.

"Just because you can do it doesn't mean you should," she said. "It's a very rich topic."