Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 09:43:30 -0700

From: "A. Maberry" maberry[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]U.WASHINGTON.EDU

Subject: Re: Pyrin vs. Marenostrin (new words duel!)



On Sat, 23 Aug 1997, Barry A. Popik wrote:



What's wrong with this picture? Here's the idiot test of the century,

courtesy of the New York Times, 22 August 1997, pg. A 19, cols. 3-6:



Gene of Mideast Ancestor May Link 4 Disparate Peoples

By NICHOLAS WADE



Several thousand years ago, somewhere in the Middle East, there lived a

person who bequeathed a particular gene to many present-day descendants. But

those millions of now distant relatives could not convincingly be called one

happy family. They include Jews, Arabs, Turks and Armenians.



what struck me is not so much the fact that a greek or latin name for the

gene was proposed, but that the article implies that the Jews, Arabs,

Turks and Armenians were descended from a common ancestor, which seems

linguistically and historically impossible, IMHO.



Allen

maberry[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]u.washington.edu