Rewriting history

A recent discovery at Plattsburgh State could make it possible for the history books to be rewritten.

Studies done to a collection of Mayan skeletons revealed a mutation similar to sickle cell anemia, a discovery Mark Cohen, anthropology professor at PSUC, said could challenge the previous notion of the interactions and effects of the Native Americans coming into contact with Europeans.

"Our collection is a very important collection of Mayan skeletons," Cohen said. "The specific skull with apparent thalassemia led us to look for the genes of thalassemia." 

Cohen said thalassemia is a genetic disease that causes severe anemia since it reduces the oxygen-carrying capacity of red blood cells which spread oxygen to the body.

"The top of the skull is extraordinarily thick, more than an inch versus the usually 1/4 inch thickness, and it is very porous — a sign of severe anemia," he said.

The thalassemic gene is usually found in highly malarial areas, such as the Mediterranean.

"The malarial parasite cannot survive in an anemic cell," Cohen said. "If a person has one copy of the gene she or he gets protection from malaria. If a person has two copies they will die, usually before age 13, of anemia."

Cohen said although the group involved with the research recently came back from a meeting where they presented the discovery, "the more controversial an idea is, the more likely it is to be challenged." 

Nancy Elwess, an associate professor in Genetics at PSUC, said, "It was thought to be primarily a Mediterranean disease. The Mayans are Native American." 

Elwess said the anthropology and biology departments are working together to sequence the genes that would show a mutation that can cause thalassemia. If this gene is found in a pre-contact skull, then that would change many of the theories about how contact with Europeans changed the New World.

"It's that age old belief that the explorers brought diseases to the new world," Elwess said. 

Both Cohen and Elwess agreed that a lot of work has to be done to silence the skeptics. 

"The big question here is if it was in the population or if it was brought into the population," Elwess said. "We have to find the mutation and determine the migration routes."

Cohen said 30 PSUC students were involved in the initial excavations in the '80s, and two are now professors of archaeology and paleo-pathology — the study of disease.

Elwess said, "To have undergrads completing research -- it was like ‘what are you thinking?'"

Sandy Latourelle, an adjunct lecturer in the biological science department at PSUC, said: "Do you realize how marketable these guys are going to be? It is really a no lose situation."

Elwess said, "We like to have students have ownership over their projects."

However, Elwess also said many skeptics say undergraduate students are not qualified to do such extensive research.

Both Cohen and Elwess agreed that PSUC students have been silencing critics.

The next step for the researchers would be to determine how the mutative thalassemia gene was introduced into the Mayan population. 

"In addition to sequencing the hemoglobin gene, we will determine the migration route taken by that skeleton to see if it does line up with being of Native American descent or European," Elwess said. "We can do this through genetic markers on the mitochondria DNA, or in the case of males, on the Y chromosome."

She said by genetically tracing the route of the disease, many theories on how our ancestors interacted with each other may be challenged.

Yet Cohen said science is strong ideas versus weak ideas and questions, and criticism is an essential part of proper science.

"Our work is becoming more sophisticated because of the criticism," he said.