Otto
06-29-2006, 01:08 AM
Contents
1 "HLA genes in Macedonians and the sub-Saharan origin of the Greeks"
2 Introduction-"HLA genes in Macedonians and the sub-Saharan origin of the Greeks"
3 General Analysis
4 Political and Unsupported Claims in a Scientific Journal
5 Poor Science "HLA genes in Macedonians and the sub-Saharan origin of the Greeks"
6 DNA Samples Used in the HLA Study
7 Genotyping of the Samples
8 Conclusions
9 References Introduction-"HLA genes in Macedonians and the sub-Saharan origin of the Greeks"
Published in the magazine Tissue Antigens February 2001, vol. 57, no. 2, pp. 118-127 by Arnaiz-Villena A et al., "HLA genes in Macedonians and the sub-Saharan origin of the Greeks" is an article which attempts to prove the hypothesis that Skopjian-slavic people were in fact present in Macedonia, Greece in ancient times although a vast array of artifactual and literary evidence from the scientific, historical and archaelogical evidence points to the fact that these people migrated many centuries after Alexander the Great.
Other papers from Arnaiz-Villena et al. have been rejected and dismissed as poor scientific research, and this paper is no different than the others.
See Arnaiz-Villena Poor Research (http://www.macedoniaontheweb.com/forum/../wiki/index.php?title=Arnaiz-Villena_Poor_Research)
General Analysis
The study by Arnaiz-Villena et al. represents work that is not only biased due to the fact that collaborators of the work were located in Skopje, F.Y.R.O.M, but also due to the fact that all the DNA samples were analyzed at a facility in Skopje, F.Y.R.O.M. Analysis of the data at a neutral facility with a double-blind study would have been more appropriate in this case.
For a scientific paper (however published in a very poor impact journal less than 1 impact), it makes political and historical claims which are controversial and are not well supported by literature. Scientific articles do not do this, and this is a biased article on several fronts whose purpose is made clear.
Political and Unsupported Claims in a Scientific Journal
Science is a field supported by data. There is no scientific or historical data which proves ancient Macedonians were in fact a Slavic people. None at all. However the authors make the BOLD claim:
Ancient Macedonians were among the peoples that lived between northern Greece (Thessaly) and Thrace in the Balkans and were considered by the classical Greeks as "non-Greek barbarians" that could not participate in the Greek Olympic Games ( 3). Herodotus wrote that "Macedonians" were "Dorians" and were never admitted to the Greek community ( 4). They did not speak Greek but another language presently unknown and of which only proper names remain; nowadays, they speak a Slavic language ( 5). Arnaiz-Villena et al.
The references 3-5 cited are poor ones, and historically inaccurate. Three references for such bold claims are also proof of the desperate idea.
In fact, all that they mention is untrue.
Macedonians participated in the ancient Olympic Games, and were thus considered Greek. See Partipication of Greeks in the Olympics (http://www.saeamerica.org/en/useful/Macedonians_Olympics_Heritage.doc) by Nikos Martis
Interestingly, if ancient Macedonians spoke an ancient language different from Greek, (note there was no ancient "Greece", Greece was composed of many tribes which spoke various dialects and varied from the "barbarous" Spartans to the democratic Athenians) why is it that present-day Skopjians retain no vestiges from the ancient language?
"Barbaros", or "barbarian" was a term thrown around by "Greeks" in ancient times. Spartans were in fact considered a barbarous tribe by the Athenians, which were more sophisticated and democratic, whereas the Spartans were war-like. Does this same reasoning mean that ancient Macedonians (or Spartans!) were not "Greek"? What about the fact that they shared and worshipped the same gods, had very similar written / spoken language and words, participated in the Olympic Games together (in which only Greeks were allowed), and shared many customs? Artifactual, literary, and historical evidence prove that this was the case.
On the other hand the "barbarian hypothesis" is a poor one and is poor reasoning. It has no artifactual evidence to support it.
Poor Science "HLA genes in Macedonians and the sub-Saharan origin of the Greeks"
Furthermore, the poorly performed scientific work and extreme conclusions drawn from such poor data point to political, rather than scientific motivations for the study as influenced by the Skopjian group which was under collaborations with Arnaiz-Villena et al.
Samples were analyzed by the Tissue Typing laboratory. Institute of Blood Transfusion, Skopje. Republic of Macedonia. Due to the location of this analysis facility, bias of the data analysis and results could have been easily been done as the study was not a double-blind or blind study. This means that the samples analyzed were known. Professional studies are performed blind, meaning that the samples are numbered and the samples are unknown to the DNA analysis facility.
DNA Samples Used in the HLA Study
DNA from all the populations except the Slavic "Macedonian", were taken from Clayton et al. 1997. This means that 3 years or more passed before the DNA samples were used by Arnaiz-Villena et al.. Samples could have easily been mixed, labels could have been lost, and DNA sample quality drastically reduced depending on storage and shipping of the samples from Clayton et al. to Arnaiz-Villena et al.
An average of 80 samples were collected from different populations. This is a very small n number especially when the diversity of the populations studied is taken into consideration. Hundreds of samples should have been taken from each ethnic population at the very least to make conclusions which have a grounding and scientific basis. Furthermore, the locations and the type of people the samples were collected from was not mentioned, adding to the confusion and the poor data of the study.
Genotyping of the Samples
Genotyping was performed using a reverse dot-blot technique with the Automated Innolipa system (Innogenetics N.V., Zwijndrecht, Belgium). This is not a common technique for genotyping. Direct DNA sequencing could have easily been conducted on all the samples.
However, "DNA sequencing was only done when indirect DNA typing (reverse dot-blot) yielded ambiguous results." This is very poor scientific technique.
There was no mention of controls used in the study at all, which makes the analysis of the data and the conclusions made from the data even more rediculous.
http://www.macedoniaontheweb.com/forum/../wiki/images/thumb/c/c0/HLA1.jpg/200px-HLA1.jpg (http://www.macedoniaontheweb.com/forum/../wiki/index.php?title=Image:HLA1.jpg) http://www.macedoniaontheweb.com/forum/../wiki/skins/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://www.macedoniaontheweb.com/forum/../wiki/index.php?title=Image:HLA1.jpg)
Arnaiz-Villena et al. 2001 Tissue Antigens
http://www.macedoniaontheweb.com/forum/../wiki/images/thumb/6/64/HLA2.gif/200px-HLA2.gif (http://www.macedoniaontheweb.com/forum/../wiki/index.php?title=Image:HLA2.gif) http://www.macedoniaontheweb.com/forum/../wiki/skins/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://www.macedoniaontheweb.com/forum/../wiki/index.php?title=Image:HLA2.gif)
Go´mez-Casado, (Arnaiz-Villena) et al. 2000 Tissue Antigens
Interestingly, although the samples used are the same, the genetic distance varies widely between Greek and French populations in the two papers meaning that there is a huge discrepancy between the data. This suggests that the data is poorly analyzed and data has very little if any conclusive power.
Moreover, the clustering of Cretans completely separate from other Greeks is completely absurd and will make sense when the authors attempt to use this absurdity as the basis of their conclusion.
Conclusions
The obvious bias of the collaborating Skopjian Slavic researchers is evident in this study by the political and historical claims made not only by poor references outside of the data collected in this study, but also the attempt to classify "Greeks" as non-"Macedonians".
"Our results show that Macedonians are related to other Mediterraneans and do not show a close relationship with Greeks; however they do with Cretans ( Tables 3, 4, Figs 1–3). This supports the theory that Macedonians are one of the most ancient peoples existing in the Balkan peninsula, probably long before arrival of the Mycaenian Greeks ( 10) about 2000 B.C. Other possible explanation is that they might have shared a genetic background with the Greeks before an hypothetical admixture between Greeks and sub-Saharans might have occurred. The cultural, historical and genetic identity of Macedonians is established according to our results. However, 19th century historians focused all the culture in Greece ignoring all the other Mediterranean cultures present in the area long before the classical Greek one."
This is absurd on many fronts.
The data does not prove any "admixture" of Greeks with sub-saharans. Populations share many HLA types and this alone does not determine admixture or the origin of Greeks.
Furthermore, the authors claim based on their data that Cretans are genetically distant to Greeks. Crete is an island located within Greece, and has been for over a thousand years. The data is either based on a mistake in analysis, or simply confirms how irrelevant their data is to the true reality of populations. Cretans are Greek, and are very closely related to mainland Greeks, more so than any other population in the world. To put this in perspective, it is similar to claiming Texans are more related to Australians than Americans.
As mentioned again, the data as mentioned is poor, the samples were not analyzed blindly, and thus the authors jump to too many conclusions from shaky data. Further political and poor historical interpretation which are not well supported by historical data follow their conclusions.
In conclusion, it makes sense not to try and support a theory on the basis of poorly collected, analyzed and interpreted data, especially when the data is not analyzed blinded and is analyzed in a facility where bias of the samples can easily occur. Furthermore, the lack of controls and the political interventions clearly confirms the lack of scientific skill and professionalism of the research groups involved.
Future studies should address analyzing many markers, as HLA genes themselves are not sufficient to support the bold claims made. A multitude of SNPs, markers and polymorphisms should be assessed and compared to DNA isolated form ancient Macedonian samples. DNA from hundreds if not thousands of individuals should be collected to provide a descent basis from which to launch a study of this magnitude. Although a difficult task, this is the only way to prove anything with a solid scientific evidence. Fortunately, a vast array of historical, literary, and artifactual evidence exists that proves that ancient Macedonians were indeed a Greek tribe. The mentioned study makes no progress in furthering our understanding of this relationship, and makes a poor political attempt to prove otherwise.
References
Clayton J & Lonjou C. Allele and Haplotype frequencies for HLA loci in various ethnic groups. In: Charron D, ed.Genetic diversity of HLA. Funcional and medical implications.Vol 1. Paris: EDK, 1997: 665 820.
Arnaiz-Villena A, Dimitroski K, Pacho A, Moscoso J, Gomez-Casado E, Silvera-Redondo C, Varela P, Blagoevska M, Zdravkovska V, Martinez-Laso J. HLA genes in Macedonians and the sub-Saharan origin of the Greeks. Tissue Antigens. 2001 Feb;57(2):118-27.
Gomez-Casado E, del Moral P, Martinez-Laso J, Garcia-Gomez A, Allende L, Silvera-Redondo C, Longas J, Gonzalez-Hevilla M, Kandil M, Zamora J, Arnaiz-Villena A. HLA genes in Arabic-speaking Moroccans: close relatedness to Berbers and Iberians. Tissue Antigens. 2000 Mar;55(3):239-49.
The author is an Ph.D / M.Sc in Biochemistry | Molecular Biology at the University of Toronto.
1 "HLA genes in Macedonians and the sub-Saharan origin of the Greeks"
2 Introduction-"HLA genes in Macedonians and the sub-Saharan origin of the Greeks"
3 General Analysis
4 Political and Unsupported Claims in a Scientific Journal
5 Poor Science "HLA genes in Macedonians and the sub-Saharan origin of the Greeks"
6 DNA Samples Used in the HLA Study
7 Genotyping of the Samples
8 Conclusions
9 References Introduction-"HLA genes in Macedonians and the sub-Saharan origin of the Greeks"
Published in the magazine Tissue Antigens February 2001, vol. 57, no. 2, pp. 118-127 by Arnaiz-Villena A et al., "HLA genes in Macedonians and the sub-Saharan origin of the Greeks" is an article which attempts to prove the hypothesis that Skopjian-slavic people were in fact present in Macedonia, Greece in ancient times although a vast array of artifactual and literary evidence from the scientific, historical and archaelogical evidence points to the fact that these people migrated many centuries after Alexander the Great.
Other papers from Arnaiz-Villena et al. have been rejected and dismissed as poor scientific research, and this paper is no different than the others.
See Arnaiz-Villena Poor Research (http://www.macedoniaontheweb.com/forum/../wiki/index.php?title=Arnaiz-Villena_Poor_Research)
General Analysis
The study by Arnaiz-Villena et al. represents work that is not only biased due to the fact that collaborators of the work were located in Skopje, F.Y.R.O.M, but also due to the fact that all the DNA samples were analyzed at a facility in Skopje, F.Y.R.O.M. Analysis of the data at a neutral facility with a double-blind study would have been more appropriate in this case.
For a scientific paper (however published in a very poor impact journal less than 1 impact), it makes political and historical claims which are controversial and are not well supported by literature. Scientific articles do not do this, and this is a biased article on several fronts whose purpose is made clear.
Political and Unsupported Claims in a Scientific Journal
Science is a field supported by data. There is no scientific or historical data which proves ancient Macedonians were in fact a Slavic people. None at all. However the authors make the BOLD claim:
Ancient Macedonians were among the peoples that lived between northern Greece (Thessaly) and Thrace in the Balkans and were considered by the classical Greeks as "non-Greek barbarians" that could not participate in the Greek Olympic Games ( 3). Herodotus wrote that "Macedonians" were "Dorians" and were never admitted to the Greek community ( 4). They did not speak Greek but another language presently unknown and of which only proper names remain; nowadays, they speak a Slavic language ( 5). Arnaiz-Villena et al.
The references 3-5 cited are poor ones, and historically inaccurate. Three references for such bold claims are also proof of the desperate idea.
In fact, all that they mention is untrue.
Macedonians participated in the ancient Olympic Games, and were thus considered Greek. See Partipication of Greeks in the Olympics (http://www.saeamerica.org/en/useful/Macedonians_Olympics_Heritage.doc) by Nikos Martis
Interestingly, if ancient Macedonians spoke an ancient language different from Greek, (note there was no ancient "Greece", Greece was composed of many tribes which spoke various dialects and varied from the "barbarous" Spartans to the democratic Athenians) why is it that present-day Skopjians retain no vestiges from the ancient language?
"Barbaros", or "barbarian" was a term thrown around by "Greeks" in ancient times. Spartans were in fact considered a barbarous tribe by the Athenians, which were more sophisticated and democratic, whereas the Spartans were war-like. Does this same reasoning mean that ancient Macedonians (or Spartans!) were not "Greek"? What about the fact that they shared and worshipped the same gods, had very similar written / spoken language and words, participated in the Olympic Games together (in which only Greeks were allowed), and shared many customs? Artifactual, literary, and historical evidence prove that this was the case.
On the other hand the "barbarian hypothesis" is a poor one and is poor reasoning. It has no artifactual evidence to support it.
Poor Science "HLA genes in Macedonians and the sub-Saharan origin of the Greeks"
Furthermore, the poorly performed scientific work and extreme conclusions drawn from such poor data point to political, rather than scientific motivations for the study as influenced by the Skopjian group which was under collaborations with Arnaiz-Villena et al.
Samples were analyzed by the Tissue Typing laboratory. Institute of Blood Transfusion, Skopje. Republic of Macedonia. Due to the location of this analysis facility, bias of the data analysis and results could have been easily been done as the study was not a double-blind or blind study. This means that the samples analyzed were known. Professional studies are performed blind, meaning that the samples are numbered and the samples are unknown to the DNA analysis facility.
DNA Samples Used in the HLA Study
DNA from all the populations except the Slavic "Macedonian", were taken from Clayton et al. 1997. This means that 3 years or more passed before the DNA samples were used by Arnaiz-Villena et al.. Samples could have easily been mixed, labels could have been lost, and DNA sample quality drastically reduced depending on storage and shipping of the samples from Clayton et al. to Arnaiz-Villena et al.
An average of 80 samples were collected from different populations. This is a very small n number especially when the diversity of the populations studied is taken into consideration. Hundreds of samples should have been taken from each ethnic population at the very least to make conclusions which have a grounding and scientific basis. Furthermore, the locations and the type of people the samples were collected from was not mentioned, adding to the confusion and the poor data of the study.
Genotyping of the Samples
Genotyping was performed using a reverse dot-blot technique with the Automated Innolipa system (Innogenetics N.V., Zwijndrecht, Belgium). This is not a common technique for genotyping. Direct DNA sequencing could have easily been conducted on all the samples.
However, "DNA sequencing was only done when indirect DNA typing (reverse dot-blot) yielded ambiguous results." This is very poor scientific technique.
There was no mention of controls used in the study at all, which makes the analysis of the data and the conclusions made from the data even more rediculous.
http://www.macedoniaontheweb.com/forum/../wiki/images/thumb/c/c0/HLA1.jpg/200px-HLA1.jpg (http://www.macedoniaontheweb.com/forum/../wiki/index.php?title=Image:HLA1.jpg) http://www.macedoniaontheweb.com/forum/../wiki/skins/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://www.macedoniaontheweb.com/forum/../wiki/index.php?title=Image:HLA1.jpg)
Arnaiz-Villena et al. 2001 Tissue Antigens
http://www.macedoniaontheweb.com/forum/../wiki/images/thumb/6/64/HLA2.gif/200px-HLA2.gif (http://www.macedoniaontheweb.com/forum/../wiki/index.php?title=Image:HLA2.gif) http://www.macedoniaontheweb.com/forum/../wiki/skins/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://www.macedoniaontheweb.com/forum/../wiki/index.php?title=Image:HLA2.gif)
Go´mez-Casado, (Arnaiz-Villena) et al. 2000 Tissue Antigens
Interestingly, although the samples used are the same, the genetic distance varies widely between Greek and French populations in the two papers meaning that there is a huge discrepancy between the data. This suggests that the data is poorly analyzed and data has very little if any conclusive power.
Moreover, the clustering of Cretans completely separate from other Greeks is completely absurd and will make sense when the authors attempt to use this absurdity as the basis of their conclusion.
Conclusions
The obvious bias of the collaborating Skopjian Slavic researchers is evident in this study by the political and historical claims made not only by poor references outside of the data collected in this study, but also the attempt to classify "Greeks" as non-"Macedonians".
"Our results show that Macedonians are related to other Mediterraneans and do not show a close relationship with Greeks; however they do with Cretans ( Tables 3, 4, Figs 1–3). This supports the theory that Macedonians are one of the most ancient peoples existing in the Balkan peninsula, probably long before arrival of the Mycaenian Greeks ( 10) about 2000 B.C. Other possible explanation is that they might have shared a genetic background with the Greeks before an hypothetical admixture between Greeks and sub-Saharans might have occurred. The cultural, historical and genetic identity of Macedonians is established according to our results. However, 19th century historians focused all the culture in Greece ignoring all the other Mediterranean cultures present in the area long before the classical Greek one."
This is absurd on many fronts.
The data does not prove any "admixture" of Greeks with sub-saharans. Populations share many HLA types and this alone does not determine admixture or the origin of Greeks.
Furthermore, the authors claim based on their data that Cretans are genetically distant to Greeks. Crete is an island located within Greece, and has been for over a thousand years. The data is either based on a mistake in analysis, or simply confirms how irrelevant their data is to the true reality of populations. Cretans are Greek, and are very closely related to mainland Greeks, more so than any other population in the world. To put this in perspective, it is similar to claiming Texans are more related to Australians than Americans.
As mentioned again, the data as mentioned is poor, the samples were not analyzed blindly, and thus the authors jump to too many conclusions from shaky data. Further political and poor historical interpretation which are not well supported by historical data follow their conclusions.
In conclusion, it makes sense not to try and support a theory on the basis of poorly collected, analyzed and interpreted data, especially when the data is not analyzed blinded and is analyzed in a facility where bias of the samples can easily occur. Furthermore, the lack of controls and the political interventions clearly confirms the lack of scientific skill and professionalism of the research groups involved.
Future studies should address analyzing many markers, as HLA genes themselves are not sufficient to support the bold claims made. A multitude of SNPs, markers and polymorphisms should be assessed and compared to DNA isolated form ancient Macedonian samples. DNA from hundreds if not thousands of individuals should be collected to provide a descent basis from which to launch a study of this magnitude. Although a difficult task, this is the only way to prove anything with a solid scientific evidence. Fortunately, a vast array of historical, literary, and artifactual evidence exists that proves that ancient Macedonians were indeed a Greek tribe. The mentioned study makes no progress in furthering our understanding of this relationship, and makes a poor political attempt to prove otherwise.
References
Clayton J & Lonjou C. Allele and Haplotype frequencies for HLA loci in various ethnic groups. In: Charron D, ed.Genetic diversity of HLA. Funcional and medical implications.Vol 1. Paris: EDK, 1997: 665 820.
Arnaiz-Villena A, Dimitroski K, Pacho A, Moscoso J, Gomez-Casado E, Silvera-Redondo C, Varela P, Blagoevska M, Zdravkovska V, Martinez-Laso J. HLA genes in Macedonians and the sub-Saharan origin of the Greeks. Tissue Antigens. 2001 Feb;57(2):118-27.
Gomez-Casado E, del Moral P, Martinez-Laso J, Garcia-Gomez A, Allende L, Silvera-Redondo C, Longas J, Gonzalez-Hevilla M, Kandil M, Zamora J, Arnaiz-Villena A. HLA genes in Arabic-speaking Moroccans: close relatedness to Berbers and Iberians. Tissue Antigens. 2000 Mar;55(3):239-49.
The author is an Ph.D / M.Sc in Biochemistry | Molecular Biology at the University of Toronto.