drug discovery@nature.com

drug discovery@nature.com: "Human genome:

Patchwork people
from Nature

Erika Check

Erika Check is Nature's Washington biomedical correspondent.

For years it was assumed that tiny differences in our genetic make-up gave us our individual traits. Now it seems that those characteristics are caused by rearrangements of large chunks of our DNA � variations that could be the key to understanding disease. Erika Check investigates.

Exactly one year ago this week, scientists announced that they had finished the 'Book of Life'. The complete sequence of the human genome had been painstakingly reduced to an ordered list of letters representing the four bases of DNA. This text was believed to be virtually identical for every person on Earth � and the major differences between individuals, such as hair colour, were said to be the equivalent of typographical errors, no longer than a single letter. The next major task for scientists was to find out which of these tiny differences can cause disease."

BBC NEWS | Americas | Obituary: Rosa Parks

BBC NEWS | Americas | Obituary: Rosa Parks: "Obituary: Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks was arrested for her refusal to give up her bus seat
It was a small act of defiance, but Rosa Parks' refusal, as a black woman, to give up her bus seat to a white man, would change the course of American history.

On 1 December 1955, the 42-year-old seamstress, and member of the Montgomery chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), was sitting on a bus when a white man demanded to take her seat. "


I Am Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks Full Coverage on Yahoo! News

Rosa Parks Full Coverage on Yahoo! News: "Bush Honors Civil Rights Icon Rosa Parks

AP - 2 hours, 23 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - President Bush praised Rosa Parks on Tuesday as 'one of the most inspiring women of the 20th century.' The civil rights icon, who died Monday night at age 92, set an example that helped touch off a movement that 'transformed America for the better,' Bush said. 'She will always have a special place in American history, and our nation thinks of Rosa Parks and her loved ones today.' Bush mentioned her at the beginning of an Iraq speech at a local military base. "


Rosa Parks: My Story

Rosa Parks: My Story

Rosa Parks

Rosa

Rosa Parks

Re: knots and bumps and differences, oh my!

Re: knots and bumps and differences, oh my!: "''EVIDENCE is NOT lacking. The evidence is the hundreds of heads of Melungeon descendants that HAVE the bump ''

Nancy

How do you know you were not feeling their 'inion'? Apparently everyone has one, do the people with 'Anatolian Bumps' have two bumps? It seems everyone can feel their 'inion' --- how did you know you were feeling their 'Anatolian Bump' as opposed to the 'inion' or 'external occipital protuberance'?

''The measuring electrode is placed over the middle of the occipital cortex, 10% of the distance between the inion and the nasion above the inion. Feel the back of your skull just above the nape of your neck. The lump you feel is the inion.''

''Hook the fingertips of one hand underneath the center of the base of her skull, in the middle of the back of the head-you should be able to feel a bump there, called the occipital protuberance, or inion''

''The standard method for electrode placement is the International 10-20 system. This system is so named since it represents 10 and 20 percent deviations from four anatomical landmarks. These four landmarks are the nasion (the bridge of the nose), the inion (the bump at the back of the head just above the neck), ''"

Re: knots and bumps and differences, oh my!

Re: knots and bumps and differences, oh my!: "'And THEN Joanne, you butted into this conversation!'

This is an open forum and when people post that Melungeons have knots and bumps and ridges on their heads it is reasonable that someone is going to ask you for your source. Lacking evidence this should go the way of the squat.

All the best
Joanne"

Re: knots and bumps and differences, oh my!

Re: knots and bumps and differences, oh my!: "As far as I'm concerned this is an open forum, and anyone reading the posts has a right to jump in. If you want a private conversation, you can email them privately? If we don't have 'exchanges', then how are we going to learn?

That little statement is just going too far, and makes that person loose some of their creditability?

MaryE"

Re: knots and bumps and differences, oh my!

Re: knots and bumps and differences, oh my!: "Joanne, your butting into this conversation was a DELIBERATE choice to TRY to start an argument. And you are continuing to try to do so with the following:

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EVIDENCE is NOT lacking. The evidence is the hundreds of heads of Melungeon descendants that HAVE the bump and the ridge and the shovel teeth and the Asian eyefold. See you NEVER say anything abt these last two. They are OK because NAs can have THEM!! It is just the ridge and bump that you continually harp on because it is contrary to YOUR THEORY and regardless of what sources would be furnished you, YOU would NOT believe them!

AND AGAIN, in POLITE SOCIETY once an error has been discovered, admitted, apologized for MANY times, people of consequence do NOT keep bringing it up. What this tells me about you is that you do NOT have anything else to disprove what I have written so like the 'fights' in many marriages, you retreat to an 'old' argument to bolster your standing. It does NOT work. YOU are not improving your credentials. YOU are losing ground.

Why don't you just stop this Joanne while you still have a leg to stand on?"

Re: knots and bumps and differences, oh my!

Re: knots and bumps and differences, oh my!: "''And re Joanne's being a good researcher Joanne looks for things to prove her theory. Anything that does NOT support her theory, she pooh-poohs and discards.''

Knots and bumps are not a theory. This myth or story you keep yarning has no proof, nothing at all to document it. YOU have a theory and are trying to prove it by bumps, ridges and diseases.

I have no theories. The Melungeons said they were Portuguese and unless or until someone can dispute that I will continue to believe our ancestors. They never said they were Turks. Period. And now you are trying to prove they were with some mystical knot that no one knows anything about except 'five Turkish guys' and Brent's mystical 'resource team'

Any researcher worth their salt would require at least ONE piece of evidence to back up the story you have perpetuated.

All the best
Joanne"

Re: knots and bumps and differences, oh my!

Re: knots and bumps and differences, oh my!: "Nancy, it might be best to mention EVERYTIME you write about the 'head-knot/ridge' and 'shovel teeth' that these 'traits' appear in many people who are not 'Melungeon', and do not descend from them either. It may be possible that more regular people have these traits than the descendants of the 'Melungeon'? Do/did ALL Melungeon and their descendants have these traits? I've had a problem with this 'trait idea' from the first. The way this claim is presented gives out wrong conclusions for most of us. I thought for some time that surely my folks were Melungeon and not Turks. Now I know better.

I think you are one good researcher, and Joanne is probably your equal.....:-)"

Re: knots and bumps and differences, oh my!

Re: knots and bumps and differences, oh my!: "''You are mixing up two different things Joanne. No, the knot is not an external occipital protruberance......

........The KNOT being talked about is ONE thing the 'proturberance' is another.''

OK Nancy do you mean there is a knot AND a porturberance besides a ridge because Kennedy clearly calls it 'enhanced external occipital protuberance '
YES, YES, YES - there are TWO things, NOT 3 and no he doesn't!

Joanne take a look at this quote again:
''We talked about epicanthal eyefolds, Asian shovel teeth, and an enhanced external occipital protuberance that provides visible evidence of Asian and central Asian heritage''

DOES KENNEDY EXPLAIN what he means here? No, he doesn't; he simply mentions a name. He goes into no details about this proturberance.

YES, Joanne, there are TWO things 'markers'. AND no clearly Brent Kennedy does NOT call the bump, the 'protuberance.' Chris Offut did that!


ONE thing is the enhanced external occipital protuberance otherwise known as a Central Asian Cranial Ridge and TWO is the 'knot/bump' otherwise known as the Anatolian bump!

Quoting Kennedy;

''We talked about epicanthal eyefolds, Asian shovel teeth, and an enhanced external occipital protuberance that provides visible evidence of Asian and central Asian heritage''

As I said the OTHER name for this protuberance is the Central Asian Cranial Ridge. And nothing in this that I could find did Brent mention the 'bump'.

You noted:
'Dr Kennedy's 'evidence' is the disease that he contracted, sarcoid.'"

Re: knots and bumps and differences, oh my!

Re: knots and bumps and differences, oh my!: "Oh, Nancy and Joanne, I just can't believe we are going to go back through this all over again about the head bumps and all the 'melungeaon' traits again! There are many,many Indians who have all the 'melungeon' traits mentioned. You just have not lived in Indian Counrty like many of we readers have, and know from personal experience that they have the mentioned traits also.

Have you included the various Indian Tribes in your studies about the 'melungeon' traits? I personally know full-blood Indians.

MaryE"

Re: knots and bumps and differences, oh my!

Re: knots and bumps and differences, oh my!: "Joanne and others,

You wrote: 'This 'knot' is also known as a 'pronounced' or 'enhanced' External Occipital Protruberance.'

You are mixing up two different things Joanne. No, the knot is not an external occipital protruberance.

Brent Kennedy first introduced me to the Central Asian Cranial Ridge and the Anatolian bump. He received the information from his resource team. Had he not had reference to these two terms, he would NEVER have started talking about them. And looking to anatomy texts will not uncover them. This is an anthropological thing that ONLY those anthropologists involved in research in the areas where they are found will have knowledge of.

The KNOT being talked about is ONE thing the 'proturberance' is another.

First the 'knot': The Anatolian 'bump' is about 2 inches or so above the BASE of the skull. It is the size of half a golf ball or smaller. It is located approximately in the center back of the skull although I have felt some that were slightly to the left or right of center.

Whether or not you can find anything in Grey's Anatomy on this 'knot', 'ridge', the Turks KNOW about it and they use it to distinguish themselves from others. I was in a group that contained 5 young men of Turkiq origin who were visiting. They told us a joke. 'Some young Turkiq men were working in Germany. They were speaking to an American who was also working there and he asked them, - how do you tell a Turk from a German?' The answer??? All five young men rubbed the back of their heads and laughed with glee!!"

Re: Keck family Melungeons?

Re: Keck family Melungeons?: "
Nancy

This 'knot' is also known as a 'pronounced' or 'enhanced' External Occipital Protruberance and I do believe everyone has one, not necessarily pronounced or enhanced. Do you mean the 'enhanced' version is only found in Turkey? I don't mean to beat a dead horse but I [and many others]have been trying to find a source for this Anatolian 'bump'-- a google search turns up nothing that doesn't mention 'Melungeons.' Searched 'Grays Anatomy' and found nothing there."

ICT [2005/10/11]��May I Suggest ...

ICT [2005/10/11]��May I Suggest ...: "Journalist and science writer Charles Mann has an investigator's skepticism and a scientist's yearning to cover new ground. In ''1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus,'' he describes an extraordinary medley of research and personal experiences to support three fundamental hypotheses: the accepted estimate of the number of American Indians inhabiting the Western Hemisphere in 1492 is much too low; Indian societies were more complex, more technologically accomplished and older than archaeologists and anthropologists (though not Indians themselves) have previously thought; and indigenous peoples did not live in a pristine wilderness but managed and modified their environments to an astonishing degree.

Mann cited linguistic, dental and DNA research that strongly suggests the Bering Strait ''ice corridor'' theory that has Paleo-Indians not arriving in North America until the end of the last Ice Age about 13,000 years ago is wrong, that the New World may have been populated by as many as 112 million people before Columbus landed, and that what the Pilgrims and other early Europeans saw as a pristine wilderness inhabited by savages - noble and otherwise - was probably the result of the massive depopulation that had occurred since first contact. "

RootsWeb: Melungeon-L Re: [Melungeon] Union or Confederate?

RootsWeb: Melungeon-L Re: [Melungeon] Union or Confederate?: "It has always bothered me that there is a site about Melungeons which shows Vardy Collins in Confederate uniform and standing by a Confederate flag, when Jean Patterson Bible says that after the Civil War the word Melungeon was used as an insult for those in Tennessee who had supported the Union. So I put in Collins for last name, V for first and Tennessee for state. There was only one hit, see below. I do believe this is our beloved Vardy Collins and that it shows he served in the Union army.

Mike Nassau


No.Soldier NameSideFunctionRegiment Name
1

Collins, Varderman

Union

Infantry

2nd Regiment, Tennessee Infantry


---------------------------------

Varderman Collins (First_Last)

Regiment Name 2 Tennessee Infantry Side Union Company E

Soldier's Rank_In Soldier's Rank_Out Private

Alternate Name Vandamin/Collins, Vandy/Collins

Notes Film Number M392 roll 3"

RootsWeb: Melungeon-L Melungeon counterfeiting

RootsWeb: Melungeon-L Melungeon counterfeiting: "Howdy. Were the Melungeon counterfeiters as some authors wrote? During the time period 1817- 1828, we have a Collins, Gibson and a Bunch. All possible Melungeons, don't know if this is the Kings son. (Present day Hancock)


Hawkins County Criminal Court

State of Tennessee vs Bunch, John

INDICTMENT-'On the 18th day of March in the year of our Lord One Thousand eight hundred and twenty four. John Bunch being an evil and disposed person took two certain pieces of base metal, being the counterfeit likeness of two silver dollar coins, current money in the United States of America and passed them to a certain Maurren Winstead for two dollars to the great damage to the said Winstead'

Witnesses; Ezekiel Winstead; Ezekiel Sullivan; Robert Gillem; Others were John Moneyhun; Samuel Wilson and Morning Winstead.

John Bunch was indicted, the prosecutor was Ezekiel Winstead my 5th generation grandfather. "

The Melungeons

The Melungeons: "Most families in the Southern part of North America in some way have family roots to the Melungeons. So lets start from the Beginning . Where did the Melungeons come from? That is a good question . Some call the Melungeons the ' Lost People ' or the 'Mysterious ' people of Appalachia. There are a lot of stories of where the Melungeons came from . I will try to explain a few. They say that they are decended from the 'Lost Colony of Roanoke' who married into the local Native American tribes. Others say that they were descendants of Welsh explorer Modoc who came to North America around 1100 AD, with ten ships of colonists . Still others say that Melungeons are the lost tribe of Isreal,lost Spanish explores and just simply a 'tri -racial isolate, made up of Native American/ African American/Caucasian mixture. ' But then there are those that say they were Portuguese .
The Melungeons according to Brent Kennedy writer of ' The Melungeons , the Resurrection of a Proud People.' suggested that the Melungeons were stating fact when they said they were ' Portyghee' . Saying that Portuguese/Morrish people who were being increasingly attacked during the Spanish Inquisition were a large part of the settlers Spain brought to this country in the 1500's .
The largest bans of Native Americans to intermarry with the settlers were the Cherokee, Powhatans and the Pamunkeys. These people migrated westward in front of the imagrants and on the way married with other groups, possibly escaped slaves, English, English/Native Americans and Scotch /Irish. The language that they spoke was broken or Elizabethan English . Their features were said to be from Dark skin to Light skin ,eyes could be Brown or Steel Blue in color while the hair could be Brown ,Black or Blonde. This comes from intermarrying . "

RootsWeb: Melungeon-L Re: [Melungeon] Union or Confederate?

RootsWeb: Melungeon-L Re: [Melungeon] Union or Confederate?: "It has always bothered me that there is a site about Melungeons which shows Vardy Collins in Confederate uniform and standing by a Confederate flag, when Jean Patterson Bible says that after the Civil War the word Melungeon was used as an insult for those in Tennessee who had supported the Union. So I put in Collins for last name, V for first and Tennessee for state. There was only one hit, see below. I do believe this is our beloved Vardy Collins and that it shows he served in the Union army."

Mystery of the Melungeons - Unexplained Mysteries Discussion Forums

Mystery of the Melungeons - Unexplained Mysteries Discussion Forums: "The settlers lived in and around these forts 20 years, 'until the English arrived and ran them out of the area.'In addition, the research committee has reason to believe several hundred Turks and other Muslim sailors were put off ships at Roanoke Island, N.C. in 1586 by Sir Frances Drake.'The evidence indicates that both (groups of settlers) intermarried with Native Americans, primarily Cherokees, Creeks, Catawba and Pamunkey,' the information states, 'and that the resultant populations were eventually pushed together in the mountains of western North Carolina and upper South Carolina where they merged.'Members of this community would later make claims of Portuguese, Moorish, Turkish and Native American descent to disbelieving Anglo-Saxons.

The term 'Melungeon,' is spelled based on how it sounded to the earliest Anglo settlers, Collins said. It most likely originated from the Turkish term 'Melun can,' pronounced the same way. Melun can means 'cursed soul,' or 'one who has been abandoned by God.' The Melungeons could not be classified as white, black, mulatto or Indian and were categorized as free persons of color. 'Their significant land holdings were confiscated, they were denied right to education, voting and judicial process, and driven either westward or higher into the mountains of the Carolinas, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia,' according to information supplied by Collins."