Uploaded January 2014 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Presented by Professor Moses Schanfield.
Of all species on the face of the earth, humans are the most disperse, in that they occupy the most diverse eco-systems present on all large land masses and most large islands.
In recent time, much work has been done using maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA, and non-recombinant Y (NRY) chromosome markers to map human migration and ancestry. In addition, large numbers of other DNA based markers have been used for similar purposes. However, anthropological geneticists have been looking at human migration and ancestry for as long as there have been genetic markers, starting with the ABO blood groups.
This talk reviews some of the realities and unrealities of ancestry testing, as done by commercial laboratories such as Ancestry.com, as well as the overall patterns of human migration and conclusions that can be made about modern humans in the last 100,000 years.
Professor Schanfield is a world authority on the genetic markers on antibodies, and has applied genetic marker testing, both protein- and DNA-based, to the study of anthropologic and forensic genetics. He was involved in some of the earliest forensic DNA cases and has been involved in some famous forensic cases including the OJ Simpson case and the JonBenét Ramsey case. Professor Schanfield is a co-editor of the book Forensic DNA Applications: An Interdisciplinary Perspective with Professor Dragan Primorac which will be released in February 2014 by Taylor and Francis. He is currently Professor of Forensic Science and Anthropology at George Washington University.
Professor Schanfield has undergraduate and Masters Degrees in Anthropology from the University of Minnesota and Harvard University, respectively and a Ph.D in Human Genetics from the University of Michigan.
Views expressed are those of the speaker and do not necessarily represent the views
of the National Capital Area Skeptics (NCAS).
0:00 Introduction
1:07 What is DNA?
1:20 Simplicity of Nuclear DNA
2:01 Nucleic Acids
2:10 DNA Pairing
4:31 Chromosome 12
6:09 DNA Contains
8:27 Antibody Diversity
9:17 Antibody Constant Regions
11:22 Population Variation
14:03 DNA Polymorphisms
15:39 Single base pair changes SNPs
17:02 RFLP typing of DNA
18:04 Promega Silver stain multiplexes Short VNTR
24:50 Informative Markers
26:18 Population Specific Markers?
29:43 Mutations
30:31 Genetic Drift
37:55 Pre-DNA testing
38:50 Pre-DNA relationships
47:07 Romanov Pedigree
49:01 NRY markers
50:35 Modern Ancestry Testing
51:57 Accuracy of Ancestry Testing
52:13 50 SNP Panel
55:53 Medical Genetics by Mail
Presented by Professor Moses Schanfield.
Of all species on the face of the earth, humans are the most disperse, in that they occupy the most diverse eco-systems present on all large land masses and most large islands.
In recent time, much work has been done using maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA, and non-recombinant Y (NRY) chromosome markers to map human migration and ancestry. In addition, large numbers of other DNA based markers have been used for similar purposes. However, anthropological geneticists have been looking at human migration and ancestry for as long as there have been genetic markers, starting with the ABO blood groups.
This talk reviews some of the realities and unrealities of ancestry testing, as done by commercial laboratories such as Ancestry.com, as well as the overall patterns of human migration and conclusions that can be made about modern humans in the last 100,000 years.
Professor Schanfield is a world authority on the genetic markers on antibodies, and has applied genetic marker testing, both protein- and DNA-based, to the study of anthropologic and forensic genetics. He was involved in some of the earliest forensic DNA cases and has been involved in some famous forensic cases including the OJ Simpson case and the JonBenét Ramsey case. Professor Schanfield is a co-editor of the book Forensic DNA Applications: An Interdisciplinary Perspective with Professor Dragan Primorac which will be released in February 2014 by Taylor and Francis. He is currently Professor of Forensic Science and Anthropology at George Washington University.
Professor Schanfield has undergraduate and Masters Degrees in Anthropology from the University of Minnesota and Harvard University, respectively and a Ph.D in Human Genetics from the University of Michigan.
Views expressed are those of the speaker and do not necessarily represent the views
of the National Capital Area Skeptics (NCAS).
0:00 Introduction
1:07 What is DNA?
1:20 Simplicity of Nuclear DNA
2:01 Nucleic Acids
2:10 DNA Pairing
4:31 Chromosome 12
6:09 DNA Contains
8:27 Antibody Diversity
9:17 Antibody Constant Regions
11:22 Population Variation
14:03 DNA Polymorphisms
15:39 Single base pair changes SNPs
17:02 RFLP typing of DNA
18:04 Promega Silver stain multiplexes Short VNTR
24:50 Informative Markers
26:18 Population Specific Markers?
29:43 Mutations
30:31 Genetic Drift
37:55 Pre-DNA testing
38:50 Pre-DNA relationships
47:07 Romanov Pedigree
49:01 NRY markers
50:35 Modern Ancestry Testing
51:57 Accuracy of Ancestry Testing
52:13 50 SNP Panel
55:53 Medical Genetics by Mail
