Purported Yeti scalp at Khumjung Monastery (source).
Has DNA been retrieved from it for the Oxford-Lausanne Collateral Hominid
Project?
Over a year ago, geneticist Bryan Sykes launched
the Oxford-Lausanne Collateral Hominid Project:
As part of a larger enquiry into
the genetic relationship between our own species Homo sapiens and other
hominids, we invite submissions of organic material from formally undescribed
species, or “cryptids”, for the purpose of their species identification by
genetic means. (Sykes, 2012)
The aim was to retrieve DNA from alleged remains of
Yeti, Bigfoot, and the like. At the time, I was skeptical that anything would come
of the project, since most remains of this type seem to be of dubious provenance.
And then there’s the problem of contamination due to human handling.
So I was surprised to see this update on the project
webpage, dated August 2013:
Thanks to all who have
contributed samples to the project. We have collected and analysed over thirty
samples and results are being prepared for publication. Following normal
procedure, no results or other information will be available prior to
publication, so please do not enquire.
Academics normally don’t like to publish negative
results. When I googled the project name, I came across this report about Bryan
Sykes meeting with people who had submitted samples of alleged Bigfoot remains:
Interestingly, Professor Sykes
has been visiting North America recently in order to speak with some of the
researchers who have submitted samples, and he has also met with US Fish and
Wildlife officials at one of their main laboratories located in Melford,
Oregon. It has been revealed that Professor Sykes was in California very
recently to speak with Justin Smeja, and also to be filmed for a documentary
detailing his study which will be released on BBC Channel 4 once the results of
the many samples tested by Sykes are published in a scientific journal.
(Cooney, 2013)
Something seems to be afoot.
References
Cooney, J. (2013). Exciting updates on the
Oxford-Lausanne Collateral Hominid Project, Bizarre
Zoology, June 12
http://bizarrezoology.blogspot.ca/2013/06/exciting-updates-on-oxford-lausanne.html
Sykes, B. (2012). Oxford-Lausanne Collateral Hominid Project, Wolfson College,
University of Oxford
https://www.wolfson.ox.ac.uk/academic/GBFs-v/OLCHP
