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Armenian Assembly of America News
1334 G Street, N.W., Suite 200
Washington, D.C. 20005
Tel: (202) 393-3434
Fax: (202) 638-4904
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://armenianassembly.tumblr.com/
The Armenian DNA Project; not so `simple' research in human genetics
by Orsolya Doricsak
AAANews
05/02/2014
Hovann Simonian and Peter Hrechdakian, administrators of the Armenian DNA
Project, delivered the 18th Annual Vardanants Day Armenian Lecture, titled
`DNA and the Origin of People: The Armenians' on Tuesday, April 22 at the
Library of Congress, in Washington DC.
By reaching thousands of years into the past, the project aims to find
genetic traces of both the ancient peoples whose descendants make up the
current Armenian population (including Colchians, Hattians, etc.) as well
as the ancient peoples who conquered or passed through Armenian lands (such
as Arabs, Turks, Cimmerians and Romans).
The major Armenian groups - haplogroups as they call them - came into
existence about 20 thousand years ago, far before any ethnic or religious
identification, according to Hrechdakian. Furthermore, based on the ancient
DNA research, Armenians geographically originated from the area where they
are living now, and throughout Eastern Anatolia (ancient Armenia).
Beyond the genetic map of the Armenians, which has been more or less
identified, this research presents some method whereby the ethnic makeup of
different nations can be compared. For instance, `Armenian DNA today most
closely resembles Turks from Eastern Anatolia, Assyrians/Chaldeans and
Mizrahi Jews (Kurdistant, Iraq, Azerbaijan and Georgia),' said Mr.
Hrechdakian.
The DNA project worldwide started in the late 1990s. `The first paper on
Armenian DNA was written in 2001 by Levon Yepiskoposyan, which is
independent from our observation, that started in 2009. Since 2009, more
than one thousand Armenians have joined the program, which is currently
focused on formulating the DNA of Armenian subpopulations,' Mr. Hrechdakian
said in his presentation.
As a Hungarian graduate student in Communication and Media Sciences,
attending the lecture was a real intellectual inspiration, which motivated
me to think about the relationship between the DNA project and the field of
communications. Specifically, I am interested in more than the DNA project
- which was started in Hungary 2 years ago. Some `Why?' questions might be
answered through this approach or at least the theory might be a reliable
aspect of divergence in communications.
If you are interested in getting tested, or to learn more about Armenian
DNA, please visit their website here
https://www.familytreedna.com/public/ArmeniaDNAProject; or the Armenian DNA
Facebook Group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/armenianDNAproject/
Orsolya Doricsak is a graduate student studying Communication and Media
Sciences at Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary. She is currently
doing a research at the Armenian Assembly of America in Washington, DC in
international relations and political communications.
Available online: http://bit.ly/1iIjyEs
1334 G Street, N.W., Suite 200
Washington, D.C. 20005
Tel: (202) 393-3434
Fax: (202) 638-4904
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://armenianassembly.tumblr.com/
The Armenian DNA Project; not so `simple' research in human genetics
by Orsolya Doricsak
AAANews
05/02/2014
Hovann Simonian and Peter Hrechdakian, administrators of the Armenian DNA
Project, delivered the 18th Annual Vardanants Day Armenian Lecture, titled
`DNA and the Origin of People: The Armenians' on Tuesday, April 22 at the
Library of Congress, in Washington DC.
By reaching thousands of years into the past, the project aims to find
genetic traces of both the ancient peoples whose descendants make up the
current Armenian population (including Colchians, Hattians, etc.) as well
as the ancient peoples who conquered or passed through Armenian lands (such
as Arabs, Turks, Cimmerians and Romans).
The major Armenian groups - haplogroups as they call them - came into
existence about 20 thousand years ago, far before any ethnic or religious
identification, according to Hrechdakian. Furthermore, based on the ancient
DNA research, Armenians geographically originated from the area where they
are living now, and throughout Eastern Anatolia (ancient Armenia).
Beyond the genetic map of the Armenians, which has been more or less
identified, this research presents some method whereby the ethnic makeup of
different nations can be compared. For instance, `Armenian DNA today most
closely resembles Turks from Eastern Anatolia, Assyrians/Chaldeans and
Mizrahi Jews (Kurdistant, Iraq, Azerbaijan and Georgia),' said Mr.
Hrechdakian.
The DNA project worldwide started in the late 1990s. `The first paper on
Armenian DNA was written in 2001 by Levon Yepiskoposyan, which is
independent from our observation, that started in 2009. Since 2009, more
than one thousand Armenians have joined the program, which is currently
focused on formulating the DNA of Armenian subpopulations,' Mr. Hrechdakian
said in his presentation.
As a Hungarian graduate student in Communication and Media Sciences,
attending the lecture was a real intellectual inspiration, which motivated
me to think about the relationship between the DNA project and the field of
communications. Specifically, I am interested in more than the DNA project
- which was started in Hungary 2 years ago. Some `Why?' questions might be
answered through this approach or at least the theory might be a reliable
aspect of divergence in communications.
If you are interested in getting tested, or to learn more about Armenian
DNA, please visit their website here
https://www.familytreedna.com/public/ArmeniaDNAProject; or the Armenian DNA
Facebook Group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/armenianDNAproject/
Orsolya Doricsak is a graduate student studying Communication and Media
Sciences at Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary. She is currently
doing a research at the Armenian Assembly of America in Washington, DC in
international relations and political communications.
Available online: http://bit.ly/1iIjyEs