Light-Sensing Protein Illuminates Sun-Loving Ocean Bacteria

August 2005 | Volume 3 | Issue 8 | e286 | e281 According to folklore, Polynesians originated from a mythical homeland called Hawaiki. The existence of such a place, however, as well as its location, has been the subject of much speculation. Signifi cant research efforts have attempted to elucidate these claims through archeological, linguistic, and, more recently, biological evidence. Jean Trejaut and colleagues are among the research groups attempting to determine the link between Polynesians and other Southeast Asian populations. In their recent study, they provide evidence that indigenous Taiwanese and Polynesians share a common ancestral link. Two main theories have previously emerged to explain the origins of modern day Polynesians: the express train model and the slow boat model. The express train model proposes that early ancestors migrated from mainland China and Southeast Asia, colonizing Taiwan fi rst and then spreading rapidly to the other Pacifi c Islands. The slow boat model assumes that Polynesian culture was infl uenced by gradual, complex interactions with neighboring islands before reaching Polynesia. Recently, genetic techniques involving mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) have been used to compare the genetic profi les of Polynesians with people from mainland China, Southeast Asia, and Taiwan. Mitochondria reside in the cell cytoplasm and contain separate DNA that is inherited only from the mother. This means that while a person’s nuclear DNA comes from a large number of ancestors, mtDNA can be traced back to a single ancestor. In theory, every person should have a copy of mtDNA identical to this original ancestor. In practice, this is not the case because random errors occur in the replication Mitochondrial DNA Provides a Link between Polynesians and Indigenous Taiwanese