Study on Palestinian genetics ‘lacks scientific merit’

By: Neil Risch and Alberto Piazza and L. Luca Cavalli-Sforza

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<h1>Study on Palestinian genetics ‘lacks scientific merit’</h1>
<h4>By: Neil Risch, Alberto Piazza and L. Luca Cavalli-Sforza</h4>
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<p>In a highly unusual move, a published scientific paper on the genetic relatedness of Jews and Palestinian was withdrawn last November following complaints that it contained inappropriate political comment about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.<BR><BR>But in a letter to <em>Nature</em>, a group of genetics researchers argue that the paper should have been refused for publication on the simple grounds that it lacked scientific merit.<BR><BR>They say that the study reconstructed genealogies on the basis of results from a single marker, which is an unreliable and unacceptable practice in population genetics.<BR><BR><A href="http://www.nature.com/login/scidev_login.taf?ref=/nature/journal/v415/n6868/full/415115b_fs.html">Link to full text</A><BR><BR>Reference: <em>Nature</em> 415, 115 (2002)</p>

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<p>This article was originally published on <a href="https://www.scidev.net" target="_blank">SciDev.Net</a>. Read the <a href="https://www.scidev.net/global/opinions/study-on-palestinian-genetics-lacks-scientific-me/" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
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In a highly unusual move, a published scientific paper on the genetic relatedness of Jews and Palestinian was withdrawn last November following complaints that it contained inappropriate political comment about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

But in a letter to Nature, a group of genetics researchers argue that the paper should have been refused for publication on the simple grounds that it lacked scientific merit.

They say that the study reconstructed genealogies on the basis of results from a single marker, which is an unreliable and unacceptable practice in population genetics.

Link to full text

Reference: Nature 415, 115 (2002)