DNA study seeks to pinpoint Cristopher Columbus’ origins 1 minute read
Granada, Spain, May 19 (EFE).- A DNA study to confirm the origins of Christopher Columbus is due to resume after a 16 year hiatus and could reveal answers by 12 October, the 528th anniversary of the explorer’s first arrival in the Americas.
Scientists are analyzing remains belonging to Columbus and two family members.
José Antonio Lorente, professor of forensic medicine at the University of Granada in Spain, said the study would attempt to settle the debate surrounding the early life of the explorer, who is widely believed to have been born in Genoa.
We all know where he went, but where did Christopher Columbus come from? Scientists try to solve riddle Graham Keeley
Now scientists will finally investigate, from where did the explorer originate.
Theories have abounded for centuries about where Christopher Columbus really came from but an international investigation launched on Wednesday will attempt to finally answer this question using the latest DNA technology.
Scientists will examine DNA from bone samples of the man who discovered the Americas in 1492 using techniques which can pin down the area where a person originates from.
Researchers will examine fragments taken from major bones which were exhumed from the Seville Cathedral in 2003.
Archyde
May 19, 2021 by archyde
MADRID, Spain | The DNA analysis of the remains of Christopher Columbus will be relaunched by a Spanish university, after years of interruption, in an attempt to unravel the mystery of the explorer’s origins, the expert responsible for the project announced on Wednesday.
Was Columbus Genoese as most historians admit? Catalan, Portuguese, Galician …? There are many hypotheses.
More than 500 years after his death in 1506, these analyzes could put an end to the controversies over the origin of the sailor who discovered America in 1492, thus changing the face of the world.
The results of this “pioneering investigation” are expected in “October”, announced Wednesday the professor of forensic medicine of the University of Granada José Antonio Lorente, during a press conference in this city of Andalusia (South).
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The first samples were collected in 2004-2005 and the DNA analysis will now resume after a 16-year hiatus due to technology challenges, which meant too much of the precious sample material would be wasted in exchange for too little data.
“Our team agreed on an ethical approach … wait for a technological development that has now happened,” said Lorente.
Columbus died in Valladolid in Spain in 1506, but wished to be buried on the island of Hispaniola that is today shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti. His remains were taken there in 1542, then moved to Cuba in 1795 and then to Seville in 1898. (Reporting by Michael Susin, Elena Rodriguez, editing by Andrei Khalip, John Stonestreet and Lisa Shumaker)
Until now, technology was not available to pinpoint where a person comes from using DNA samples from deteriorated bone fragments.
Now, using the latest next generation sequencing methods, laboratories in Spain, Italy and the United States will pore over the tiny pieces of bones and compare results.
Widely considered to have been born in Genoa in Italy, other theories have suggested Columbus may also have come from parts of Spain, Portugal, Croatia and even Poland.
“I am aware that this is going to be difficult. These fragments are very degraded. I have to be realistic. But I have great hopes,” Dr Jose Antonio Lorente, an expert in legal and forensic medicine at the University of Granada who is leading the project, told