LDS Objections to the Genetic Studies

First

Slide 40 of 56

Mormon apologists have cited possible genetic effects to explain the lack of Jewish genetic markers in Native American populations. Frequently cited are the founder’s effect and genetic drift. Although the terms sound scientific and possibly could explain the contradictory evidence, there is not a non-Mormon scientist who would accept those kinds of explanations as being valid. Let’s first explain the principles and how they might apply to these studies. Founder effects can result from one individual becoming the dominant ancestor of a population. In the founder effect, if that one individual harbors a significant A permanent structural alteration in DNA, consisting of either a substitution, insertion or deletion of nucleotide bases.mutation compared to the population he came from, the genetics would be skewed toward that one individual. Genetic drift results in isolated populations as selective breeding occurs, skewing the genetics in a particular direction different from other isolated populations.