'essay': Dna Doesn't Prove Or Disprove Book Of Mormon

[BCSpace]

On Friday, the LDS Church posted another of its "Gospel Topics" essays, this one addressing the issue of DNA and the Mormon scripture.

"The Book of Mormon itself, however, does not claim that the peoples it describes were either the predominant or the exclusive inhabitants of the lands they occupied," the unsigned essay says, but only "among the ancestors of the American Indians."

Beyond that, it says, "nothing is known about the extent of intermarriage and genetic mixing between Book of Mormon peoples or their descendants and other inhabitants of the Americas, though some mixing appears evident, even during the period covered by the book’s text."

"What seems clear is that the DNA of Book of Mormon peoples," the essay says, "likely represented only a fraction of all DNA in ancient America."

After a lengthy explanation of how DNA and genetics work, the piece concludes that "finding and clearly identifying [book of Mormon peoples’] DNA today may be asking more of the science of population genetics than it is capable of providing."

The essay also warns that efforts to defend the book’s historicity through DNA are equally "speculative."

The evidence is "simply inconclusive," the church asserts. "In short, DNA studies cannot be used decisively to either affirm or reject the historical authenticity of the Book of Mormon."

All this talk of DNA and genetics aside, the essay reaffirms that the book’s "primary purpose" is more spiritual than historical.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogsfaithblog/57479124-180/dna-book-mormon-essay.html.csp

While Near Eastern DNA markers do exist in the DNA of modern native populations, it is difficult to determine whether they are the result of migrations that predated Columbus, such as those described in the Book of Mormon, or whether they stem from genetic mixing that occurred after the European conquest. This is due in part to the fact that the “molecular clock” used by scientists to date the appearance of genetic markers is not always accurate enough to pinpoint the timing of migrations that occurred as recently as a few hundred or even a few thousand years ago.17

Scientists do not rule out the possibility of additional, small-scale migrations to the Americas.18 For example, a 2010 genetic analysis of a well-preserved 4,000-year-old Paleo-Eskimo in Greenland led scientists to hypothesize that a group of people besides those from East Asia had migrated to the Americas.19 Commenting on this study, population geneticist Marcus Feldman of Stanford University said: “Models that suggest a single one-time migration are generally regarded as idealized systems. … There may have been small amounts of migrations going on for millennia.”20

https://www.lds.org/topics/book-of-mormon-and-dna-studies

[BCSpace]

Okay, I've done this twice now.  Didn't see the other thread.  Apologies.  Feel free to delete.