Researchers using DNA testing identify four additional crew members from Sir John Franklin’s 1845 Arctic expedition. The work, led by anthropologists at the University of Waterloo, analyzes DNA extracted from skeletal remains found from the expedition. Scientists compare these genetic samples with DNA donated by living descendants of relatives of sailors believed to have been on the voyage. The matches allow researchers to confirm the identities of four men whose names were previously uncertain. One of the newly identified sailors has been the subject of historical debate for more than a century, which the results now help resolve. Collectively, the new identifications raise the total number of Franklin expedition sailors confirmed through DNA matching to six. The research also contributes to a broader effort to place individual crew members within the expedition’s record and to better understand what happened during the failed voyage.
DNA confirms identities of four more sailors from Franklin’s 1845 Arctic expedition
Researchers using DNA testing identify four additional crew members from Sir John Franklin’s 1845 Arctic expedition. The work, led by anthropologists at the University of Waterloo, analyzes DNA extrac...
- DNA is extracted from skeletal remains of sailors from Sir John Franklin’s 1845 expedition.
- Researchers match the ancient DNA with DNA donated by living descendants of relatives.
- Four additional sailors’ identities are confirmed through the DNA matches.
- One newly identified sailor had been debated for more than a century.
- The identifications bring the total number of Franklin expedition sailors identified to six.
Nearly 180 years after the failed voyage, archaeologists are finally making progress in putting names to the bodies.
3 months agoDNA from living descendants of relatives have allowed four members of the ill-fated Franklin expedition to be identified.
3 months agoResearchers have identified four more members of Sir John Franklin's 1845 expedition, one of whom was the subject of great debate lasting for more than a century. Anthropologists from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Waterloo led the work that analyzed DNA samples extracted from skeletal remains and found matches with DNA donated by living descendants. These new discoveries bring the total number of identified sailors of the Franklin expedition to six.
3 months agoConfirmation of the identities of four sailors lost on the Franklin Expedition resolves “a great debate lasting for more than a century,” researchers say.
3 months agoScientists have revealed the identities of four more men who perished in Sir John Franklin's doomed 1845 expedition.
3 months ago
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