World's Greatest Lover?

The article | Audio | Press | Bloggers | Take the Test! | Other | Genetics topics other than Genghis' philoprogenitivism | Is the British Royal family relayed to Genghis Khan?

The article

"The Genetic Legacy of the Mongols" by twenty-two (!) authors, published in The American Journal of Human Genetics (March 2003).

Ed.: This article, the subject of this section, sifts genetic evidence to reveal that around 8% of the population of the historical Mongol empire (equivalent to .5% of the world's population) share a common male ancestor, Genghis Khan or his immediate ancestors. The link above is the abstract. Here is the full text in HTML, and in PDF.

"Genghis Khan's legacy?" by John Travis, from Science News (2/8/2003)

Audio

Audio and text of the first part of an excellent report by Australian radio personality "Dr. Karl" and the second part (ABC Radio, Australia), from his "Great Moments of Science". Here and elsewhere, he's a very engaging popularizer.

Press

"Genghis Khan a Prolific Lover, DNA Data Implies" by Hillary Mayell for National Geographic News (2/14/2003). Decent short treatment. Also of interest is a profile of one of the authors, Spencer Wells:

"'Emerging Explorer' Uses DNA to Unlock Our History" by Hillary Mayell, for National Geographic News (1/5/2004)

"The fatherly side of Genghis Khan" by Nicholas Wade, for the International Herald Tribune (1/13/2003), picked up from the NYT. The Times always does a good job with stuff like this.

"We owe it all to superstud Genghis" by Robin McKie, Observer (3/2/2003).

"One researcher, Tatiana Zerjal, even suggested they had found the genetic footprint of Khan. 'It was just a joke,' added Tyler-Smith. 'Then we began to look more closely at our results, and realised it was the only really feasible explanation for what we had found.'"

"Genes of history's greatest lover found" from United Press International (2/6/2003). Long and detailed account. I particularly appreciate the quoted comment of Prof. Gregory M. Cochran: "This shows that one man can make a difference."

Discovery Channel News: "Genghis Khan: Father to Millions?" by Rossella Lorenzi (june 2004)

Bloggers

"Genghis Khan: most prolific man in history" by Thorgeir Blund, blogging about it entertainingly (2/9/2003).

Another blogger. The original post doesn't add much, but the posts demonstrate why people should shut up more. Last comment points to this interesting Atlantic article on the "The Genetic Archaeology of Race."

Gene Expression, a "weblog run by opinionated scientists whose primary focus is the relationship between genetics and human nature."

Take the Test!

Some background: A genetic testing company, Oxford Ancestors, recently began offering a DNA test to determine whether someone is related to Genghis Khan. They launched their product through a free-test promotion at the London restaurant Shish.

Oxford Ancestors offers the Y-Clan Test, "Are you a descendant of Genghis Khan?" .

BBC News Online: "Taking the Genghis Khan test" by Chirag Trivedi, on Oxford Ancestors's £180 Genghis-test.

"Descendants of Genghis Khan win a free meal" Associated Press article by Jill Lawless, Charlotte Observer (July 2004)

Shish offered the free tests for one week. The promotion is now over.

Give me the food or I conquer you. Some comments by Harold Paxton.

Other

"Genetic footprint of Genghis Khan still visible today" from BluePrint, the newsletter of the University of Oxford (3/20/03)

Genetics topics other than Genghis' philoprogenitivism

"Alcoholism and Mongoloid Ancestry: Mongol genes leave Russians susceptible to alcoholism" by Jeremy Page, from The Times of London, excerpted by Dienekes' Anthropology Blog (2/2/2004), with comments contentious and not.

Is the British Royal family relayed to Genghis Khan?

I found this asserted in many of the DNA articles, so I decided to see how far I could confirming it on the internet. This was the best I could do.

Prince Charles, the Sustainable Prince by Joan Veon. Veon believes that Prince Charles is the anti-Christ or, at least, a "major player in the end-times" aided by the fact that "his tentacles are very deep, reaching into every area of life, business, and government." This is neither here nor there, but he does have a footnote that gives one published source for the notion that Prince Charles and Genghis Khan are related, Gerald Paget's The Lineage and Ancestry of H.R.H. Prince Charles, Prince of Wales. Vols. 1 and 2 (Baltimore Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc. 1977) ix.