Comments on: Iceman Mummy Lost Darwin’s Game: He Seems to Have No Modern Kin

By: james

james — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 23:21:04 +0000

mtDNA as a tool to catalog human gene groups is better than Y-DNA, as the latter can only be used to catalog half of the human being.

By: Nina Bai

Nina Bai — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:55:02 +0000

@Frans

Looks like the researchers are asking the same question! According to an article in The Scientist:

“Rollo’s team now plans to attempt the sequencing of Öetzi’s Y chromosome DNA, which is less abundant than mtDNA, but offers a counterpart to mtDNA, in that it is passed only through the paternal line.

‘It will be also very interesting to see whether the descendents of Öetzi indeed are all extinct,’ Rollo said. ‘[As far as we know], no one can claim to be the descendent of Öetzi but, who knows, perhaps in a lonely Alpine valley…’”

(http://www.the-scientist.com/templates/trackable/display/blog.jsp?type=blog&id=55145&o_url=blog/display/55145)

By: Frans Schuitemaker

Frans Schuitemaker — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:09:38 +0000

Frans
As you can see that is my name also. what is your last name?

By: Frans

Frans — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 17:42:11 +0000

Does anybody know if Oetzi’s paternal halogroup is known?

By: Charlie

Charlie — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 05:46:51 +0000

The claim that “Ötzi, does not appear to have any living relatives in Europe” is nonsense. All the lack of Otzi’s mtDNA being found today suggests (but does not prove) is that there is no unbroken matrimonial line back to Otzi’s mother or her mother etc. Males do not pass on mtDNA so Otzi could have had a dozen children and thousands of descendants but they would not carry his mtDNA.
There could be many descendants of his mother, her mother etc, but only unbroken female lines will show mtDNA the same as Otzi’s.
Cheers

By: Julia

Julia — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 04:09:44 +0000

Surely Oetzi’s matrilineal cousins, many times removed, would be considered among his “kin”/”relatives”? If they were to exist, that is. Which it seems they don’t.

By: james

james — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 23:49:44 +0000

The relatives of his mother are not his? interesting.
If he was in a matrilineality system, only his maternal relatives considered as his kins.

By: Frans

Frans — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:55:22 +0000

Very interesting. What is known about the haplogroup on his Y-chromosome? I.o.w. his paternal ancestry?

By: Tony

Tony — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:04:34 +0000

Still; Ötzi?s mother may have only had sons. Or she may have only had him. Regardless, nobody knows Ötzi?s past, therefore if looking for relatives in the present it seems pointless to use mtDNA. If your looking for similar mtDNA now, you’re looking for relative’s of his mother…not Ötzi.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:51:53 +0000

> While there may be an individual who does have Ötzi’s MOTHER’s mtDNA, certainly no one
> will have HIS mtDNA.

His mtDNA = His mother’s mtDNA. Thus by the transitive property, an individual who has his mother’s mtDNA will have his mtDNA.

By: John Lloyd Scharf

John Lloyd Scharf — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 00:49:07 +0000

I have had it pointed out to me that this is mased on the mtDNA only. That is only passed from mother to children rather than from the father.

While there may be an individual who does have Ötzi’s MOTHER’s mtDNA, certainly no one will have HIS mtDNA.

If there is anything that would be recognizeable DNA from Ötzi, it would be his Y Chromosome DNA or yDNA. He could have passed on the R1 haplogroup for most of Europe, but his mtDNA would neveer be passed on.

I think you should note that so-called science editors have been passing this story on without catching this.