Wade, Lizzie. "Mummy Genomes Reveal Just How Catastrophic European Contact Was for New World." Mummy Genomes Reveal Just How Catastrophic European Contact Was for New World. 2016. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. <http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/04/mummy-genomes-reveal-just-how-catastrophic-european-contact-was-new-world >.
A new study has come out showing that European contact with indigenous american populations had a major impact on their genome. Using 92 skeletons and mummies, alive from 8600 to 500 years ago, researchers looked at the mitochondrial DNA, which is directly passed from mother to offspring, in order to retrace the population all the way back to Siberia. The data showed that the Native Americans were last in touch with their Siberian ancestors 23,000 years ago. They then began crossing the land bridge, which they were stranded on for 6,000 years, until taking a boat down to the Americas. In total it took them, “1500 years to cover the entire continent.” And then, much to the scientist’s surprise, everyone settled down with no inbreeding between different groups. When the Europeans arrive, 84 or 92 lineages were found untraceable, or in other words, they were completely wiped out.
I thought this article said a lot about the genetic diversity of Native Americans. It is true that there are still many holes in the information, and things that still need to be discovered, but overall it is very significant. For example, it paints a clearer picture of the variety of Native American genes, how their ancestry can be traced back, and the route they took to reach the Americas. Most importantly, however, it showed the genetic impact of the European contact with Native Americans, and how it decimated their family lines.
I thought this article was well written, but it was slightly dry at times. I wish they had focused more on the impact of European contact, than talking about how they didn’t have that much information. I loved reading about the background information however, because I think it was very interesting and involved things that I never learned about. Overall, it was nice to learn something about Native Americans and their genetic diversity, since not a lot is focused on them.
Yosman,
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed your review for a number of reasons. First of all, you had an intriguing hook to start off your review. By saying, “A new study has come out showing that European contact with indigenous american populations had a major impact on their genome,” you really caught my attention, making me want to find out more about what this major impact on their genome is. Another area I thought you did really well in was keeping your review clear and concise. One specific spot that I thought you presented especially clearly was the part in which you discussed how scientists retraced the genome of the Native Americans. Here, you said, “Using 92 skeletons and mummies, alive from 8600 to 500 years ago, researchers looked at the mitochondrial DNA, which is directly passed from mother to offspring, in order to retrace the population all the way back to Siberia.” This is very clear, and it also provides a nice segway into the Native Americans’ origins in Siberia. One last thing I liked about your article was the way you were able to admit that some things simply were not known yet. For instance, at one point in your review, you wrote, “I thought this article said a lot about the genetic diversity of Native Americans. It is true that there are still many holes in the information, and things that still need to be discovered, but overall it is very significant.” By making a concession of how you certain things simply were not known, you made other parts of your article more credible. Overall, your review was amazing.
While there were countless things I liked about your review, you also had some room for improvement. One thing I didn’t like about your review was that your description of the migration of the Native Americans was rather unclear, In your description, you confusingly said, “They then began crossing the land bridge, which they were stranded on for 6,000 years, until taking a boat down to the Americas.” When I read this I was confused about if they crossed the land bridge, took boats, or a combination of the two. I think you should have clarified which of these took place when to avoid confusion. Another reason I didn’t like your review was because it was rather statistic-heavy. For instance, in your review, you used phrases like “92 skeletons and mummies,” “Siberian ancestors 23,000 years ago,” and “stranded on for 6,000 years.” Because there were many statistics in this article review, I was not able to appreciate what the numbers truly meant as much as I would usually because they all got mixed up in my head. To fix this, I would have used fewer statistics or separated the statistics more . Other than these two reasons, your review was spot-on.
This review was quite informative, and it did a wonderful job presenting the the scientific effect that Europeans had on Native Americans genetically.. Because of this, I am now able to understand the magnitude by which the Europeans impacted the genome of the Native Americans. The reason I chose this article review out of all the others is because of its catchy title. When I saw the title “Mummy genomes reveal just how catastrophic European contact was for New World,” I was immediately hooked. I had to learn more about this “catastrophic European Contact.” This review also made me consider my own genome and how it may be effected. I consider myself to be a mutt when it comes to heritage. I have family from all over the world, so now I may look into my ancestral paths and how different events/groups of people may have affected the way I look today.
Yosman, I really enjoyed reading your review on the article, "Mummy Genomes reveal just how catastrophic European contact was for the New World." I think you did a great job maintaining a clear and concise voice throughout your review so it was a quick and easy read full of context and relevant information. I really liked how you mentioned how there are still holes in the information where researchers are unsure where certain ancestors originate from; this made your review more authentic. I also liked your critique of the author of the article, noting how it was a "dry" read.
ReplyDeleteAlthough you wrote a great review, there are areas for improvement. First of all, the title of the article definitely drew me in, however, you did not clearly lay out how the European contact was catastrophic which would have been more connected to the article. I also think you could have done without some of the statistics. Although including statistics in a review creates a more scholarly tone, over-using statistics distracts from analysis.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading your review. I never think about archaeology, but the title of this article caught my eye. It was interesting to read about the ancestry and where the originators of America came from. Well done.
Wade, Lizzie. "Mummy Genomes Reveal Just How Catastrophic European Contact Was for New World." Mummy Genomes Reveal Just How Catastrophic European Contact Was for New World. 2016. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. .
Yosman,
ReplyDeleteYour article on “Mummy genomes reveal just how catastrophic European contact was for the New World” was an enthralling read. A notable aspect of your review was it’s simplicity which has power to capture the reader’s attention without getting bogged down by “hard to digest” information. Also your article’s length was great as well as it was short and to the point. You dove straight into the main point of your article after supplying the appropriate side information. Another aspect I enjoyed about your article is that it not only is related to scientific findings but in a way ties back to history. We know that the arrival of the Spaniards, Portuguese, and etc. brought upon foreign maladies upon the Native Americans almost driving them to the point of extinction.
However as much of a nice read it was, there were a few flaws. I thought it was great to learn how scientists could obtain mitochondrial DNA from these mummies but it would have been better to learn about the process in which they garnered this and what exactly in the mitochondrial DNA allows them to make these conclusions about Native Americans. So although this would make your summary a bit more technical I think it would be an important addition. Integrating quotes from experts, even though this is a summary would make your piece stronger as well.
Your article, like many of these scientific reviews, offers a way to think more deeply into matters we don’t take the time to consider. I primarily chose it because it dealt with a topic I had at least some background information on as we’ve learned about this in history class. The most amazing aspect about your article how scientists have found a way to unwrap all this historical evidence and patterns just through mitochondrial DNA.
Citation: Wade, Lizzie. "Mummy Genomes Reveal Just How Catastrophic European Contact Was for New World." Mummy Genomes Reveal Just How Catastrophic European Contact Was for New World. 2016. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. .
Yosman, I really enjoyed your review of the article “Mummy Genomes Reveal Just How Catastrophic European Contact Was for New World.” There were a few things that stood out. One, I thought you did a great job with your summary. It was short and concise enough so I understood the article, and not too long that it became boring to read. Two, I liked your critique of the author and her article. You mentioned how it was “well written” but “dry” at times. Three, I liked all of the data you included in your review such as “23,000 years ago” or “84 or 92 lineages.” These numbers added a lot of value to your review.
ReplyDeleteAlthough your review was great, there are a few things you could do to make it even better. One, I wish you described more about how the contact was “catastrophic” as your title suggests. I was led into the review based on your title, so it would’ve been nice if you had added onto it. Two, I wish you added a quote or two from an expert, because this would have strengthened your review and added a new layer.
It was really interesting to read your review, because personally, I haven’t put much thought into where our ancestors have come from. It’s amazing how we are still finding out new things about things that happened thousands of years ago. Again, I really enjoyed your review.
Wade, Lizzie. "Mummy Genomes Reveal Just How Catastrophic European Contact Was for New World." Mummy Genomes Reveal Just How Catastrophic European Contact Was for New World. 2016. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. .
ReplyDeleteI thought that the review that Yosman did on this article was very well done. I thought that Yosman did a good job of providing a concise summary about the topic by giving a general overview, supported by more specific information, such as dates. Additionally, I thought that Yosman did a good job of describing the science of tracing the DNA, through the use of mitochondrial DNA, which is passed directly from mother to offspring. Lastly, I thought that Yosman’s critique was well done. Based off of the title of the article, I was confused by the lack of information on the effects of the European contact. By adding how this article lacked information on this topic, I realized that the article itself was what lacked the information, and not the review.
Although this review was very well done, I have some suggestions for improvements. Although the summary was concise, there were too many statistics within that paragraph. The amount of statistics gets confusing, and I think that only using a couple of the more important statistics would make it easier to read, as well as highlight those that are there. Additionally, you mentioned how this shows “a lot about the genetic diversity of Native Americans,” and i think that a further description here could have enhanced your review. I felt that the review lacked information on the genetic diversity, and on the contrary had a lot of information on the history behind the migration of this group.
Overall, I thought that this was a very interesting article, with a capturing title. This helped me to learn about the migration of this group, as well as the influence on the genome from European contact. This shines a light on how interactions shape our genomes.
Yosman amazing job with your review. I thought your review was very well written and it kept me intrigued at every part. It is hard to relay information but you did a good job of making it clear to the reader. I also thought that you did a very good job with your critique of the article. I think you gave us a clear idea of the article through that. I also think that it was helpful that you informed us that there was still holes in the research. I think that helps a lot with understanding the research.
ReplyDeleteI think one thing you could improve on would be adding more statistics and quotes to your review. This just helps elevate your article. I think you could also explain the catastrophe that your article presents in the beginning. I think it is confusing without an explanation of it.
Overall I think you did a great job. I haven’t really read about a topic like this before so it was very interesting and new to me. I think that I learned a lot. It was very interesting to read about our ancestors and where we came from.
To start I would just like to say that you did a great job of presenting this article. You achieved this by taking a topic that could have easily been dragged out into a boring description and condensed it into just the crucial facts so that it became easier to digest. As a result of this the reader is not left bored and actually takes the time to form their own opinions on the topic rather than brushing over it and never considering the idea again. Secondly, You did a good job of placing your own opinions and evident interest in the topic while simultaneously giving unbiased information so the reader would not be influenced and could for their own ideas. to go along with this, you also did a good job of synthesizing insightful ideas that are not necessarily first reactions but rather the result of pondering the article for a decent amount of time.
ReplyDeleteWhile all of these aspects were positive, there were a couple of areas in which you could have improved. To start I would have liked to see a bit more information on the science that is involved because personally, I am not particularly familiar with how a genome is interpreted by scientists. This would have made it easier to understand where the scientists made their mistake. Secondly, your work could have benefited from direct quotes from the article, this would provide your words with more credibility in general. This topic of study has always interested me.
This article was interesting because usually evolution is thought of as this thing that happens over millions of years and turns dinosaurs into mammals when in reality it is constantly happening and may not even be visible. The native populations of the new world were only separated for a couple thousand years and they became different enough from their European relatives to mix poorly with their genetics.
Wade, Lizzie. "Mummy Genomes Reveal Just How Catastrophic European Contact Was for New World." Mummy Genomes Reveal Just How Catastrophic European Contact Was for New World. 2016. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. .
I really enjoyed reading your review on the article, "Mummy Genomes reveal just how catastrophic European contact was for the New World." A notable aspect of your review was it’s simplicity which has power to capture the reader’s attention without getting bogged down by jargon. I liked all of the data you included in your review such as “23,000 years ago” or “84 or 92 lineages.” These numbers added a lot of value to your review. Lastly, I thought that Yosman did a good job of describing the science of tracing the DNA, through the use of mitochondrial DNA, which is passed directly from mother to offspring. I think one thing you could improve on would be adding more statistics and quotes to your review. Also, I would have liked to see a bit more information on the science that is involved because personally, I am not particularly familiar with how a genome is interpreted by scientists. As a whole, I really liked your review because it was clear you put sizable time and effort into it, and at the same time I found the topic of the mummy genome fascinating.
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