The sun rose--more than it had been already, of course--over the cliff as the ocean beat the rocks below. Little puffins squawked for their mothers, and they ended up waking us up like an alarm clock. We woke up at 6:30, which was brutal, and walked back to the car by 8:30. We finished what was left of the snacks as we walked and then drove the last five hours. We checked back into the Black Pearl Hotel around 1:30 and unloaded the car.
Taylor sprinted into the bathroom and showered as quickly as possible. I don't know who was happier that she has showered, us or her after being cooped up in a car with her for the past day. We were careful not to unpack too much because we were leaving tomorrow as we got ready to go meet Alda and Odda at the University of Iceland. We left the hotel just before 1:45 and met them at 2:00. First thing we did was really quickly get lunch at the cafeteria and catch up.
After that we went to the research labs. Iceland is an extremely homogeneous population, meaning that there is very little genetic diversity. Their low rate of immigration and gemological records that go back 1,000 years makes it a genealogical gold mine.
Nearly 1/3 of the country's population has donated or sold a sample of their genetics for research. This has led to some backlash, however, because those who have not contributed feel like they are being blackmailed for their DNA by companies and those who have donated because research companies want to expand their databases to discover more about human genetics.
Through Icelandic genetics they have already found a gene that is linked to risk for Alzheimer's and a gene that can cancel out the effect of other genes.
The impact of these discoveries could lead to immeasurable advances in the medical field. Think of the significance of a gene that can cancel out another one, for example, and now that we can identify what genes cause Alzheimer's, in the future we could nearly eradicate the devastating degenerative disease that causes the brain to deteriorate in the elderly. Those who have not donated sometimes get packages in the mail with fresh swabs and a notification that they will collect the samples in the near future. Those tactics are very manipulative, and has recently made some people loose support for the industry.
It has also shown insight into evolution. They were able to find our most recent common male ancestor, which they are calling the "father of humanity" by analyzing the DNA of over 2,600 Icelanders, and partial DNA of over 104,000 more. He lived between 174,000 and 321,000 years ago, which contradicts the finding that the first humans lived 364,000 years ago. Through this they can now work to find mutant genes which could give insight into what genes in the Icelandic population--which could then be used as a based for researching other populations--an immunity to disease. So far 20 million variants have been found and even more genes have been linked to risks for even more diseases, like liver cancer and thyroid issues.
It's understandable that the researchers are so desperate for more samples of DNA, Iceland is like the holy grail of genetics. They just might be the future for all of us.
We thanked Alda and Odda and had then went back to the Black Pearl for a good night's rest before tomorrow's busy day.
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| One of the researchers in the lab |
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