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The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey

Did anyone see the cspan2 program on this book?

This is the program about the guy who travelled around the world taking genetic samples to find out about migration? If so, it was also on PBS Nova Series in the U.S.

I find it to be fascinating.

I did too.

My question is (since I'm a total n00b on this) how reliable is this DNA research?

DNA identification and matching is quite reliable. Criminal courts will not admit evidence that isn't considered reliable and there's a whole body of cases on what it means to be "reliable." DNA evidence is admitted in U.S. criminal courts.

What kinds of errors can happen?

The samples can get mixed up or contaminated. There are, no doubt, other more technical foul ups that are possible but I'm not familiar with the technical evidence.

Would be accurate to say that we are only scratching the surface of DNA?

Yes. The problem isn't so much knowledge as having the resources and personnel to work on all the stuff that's worth working on.

and if so how strong is this claim?

The author's genetic flow scheme is probably fairly accurate (how's that for a hedge?). But, I believe he looked for only one trait in each population he examined. I'm sure the guy would be the first to admit that his study could be refined.
 
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