A Genealogy of Humankind

The great Nicholas Wade writes in the Times that a joint venture by the National Geographic Society and IBM will undertake to create a genealogy of the world's populations. This will involve taking 100,000 blood samples from indigenous populations throughout the world. They expect to be able to trace the pathways of humanity's expansions throughout the ages. Even now, with the limited amount of genetic studies extant, one's ancestry can be traced pretty reliably by a DNA test. With a sample size this great, most mysteries of modern human origins should be lifted. While you haven't heard any whining about this like you do about embryonic stem cells, Wade reports that the "project ran into a political furor that prevented it from receiving substantial government support. It was denounced by some cultural anthropologists, who said that looking for genetic differences among populations was tantamount to racism." Fortunately, private funds will be making up the difference. You'll notice that private funds are not similarly stepping up for embryonic stem cell research. The obvious reason is that ESC's are a pipedream. No dollars were mentioned in the article, but I'm guessing it will be quite a bit less than the bankrupt State of California will be "investing" in embryonic stem cells.