Tuesday, May 30, 2006

How I am related to Genghis Kha

How I am related to Genghis Khan - World - Times Online : the fascinating proof from genetics that an accountant in Florida is a descendent of Mongols.

This is less interesting than it sounds. I too, am almost certainly descended from Ghengis Khan and Mohammed and just about any major figure in history who had lots of children.

http://editor.slate.com/default.aspx/id/2138060/

The accountant can show that he's (probably) a direct male descendent, which is kindda neat, but not very relevant genetically. You are just as much descended from your mother as from your father, so it could easily be the case that your mother is a direct descendent of Ghengis Khan's daughters. Due to a quirk in the Y-chromosome, it's possible to prove the male descendency but not the female.

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