International Team to Study Columbus DNA to Determine His Origin
Voice of America
An international team of scientists gathering in Spain Wednesday will launch a project to determine once and for all where famed explorer Christopher Columbus came from by examining his DNA.
While Columbus has long been claimed by Italy, there is also speculation he may have been Spanish, Portuguese, Croatian or even Polish. There is little known about his early history, and the project is designed to settle the question. In 2003, a team from the Spanish University of Granada’s medical school established, through DNA research, that bones in a tomb in the cathedral of Seville were those of Columbus, settling a dispute with the Dominican Republic which claimed his body was buried there. At that time DNA technology was not advanced enough to determine much else. Breakthroughs in the technology since then, however, have made it possible to now roughly ascertain the area of person’s ancestry.FILE - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during Xi's visit in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this picture released by by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), June 21, 2019. A news program broadcasts file images of a rocket launch by North Korea, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, May 28, 2024. A rocket launched by North Korea to deploy the country's second spy satellite exploded shortly after liftoff on May 27, state media reported.
A man walks past election posters of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), as South Africa prepares for the May 29 general elections, in Soweto, May 24, 2024. African National Congress (ANC) supporters sing songs during the political party's final rally ahead of the upcoming election at FNB stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa. May 25, 2024.