Polynesian rat genetics

[Glen Miyashiro]

Jan TenBruggencate writes in the Advertiser about research at UH that studies Polynesian rat DNA as evidence of ancient Polynesian voyaging. Rats probably stowed away on most voyaging canoes, and because their generations are so much shorter than humans', their genetic mutation rate is higher and it's easier to trace their ancestry.

[buzz1941]

Re: Polynesian rat genetics

One of my daughter's science fair projects was tracking lactose intolerence in Hawaiians. It's higher in those of Asian background, and prior to the introduction of cows and goats, animal-milk consumption was pretty much unknown in the Pacific. Her finding was that the level of lactose intolerance in pure Hawaiians pretty much matches that of Caucasians, this genetic marker arguing for a Pacific population wave coming out of India instead of Asia. Of course, "more study needed."