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<h1 style='background:white'><b><font size=5 color="#555555" face=Arial><span
style='font-size:16.5pt'>In <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Lebanon</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
DNA may yet heal rifts<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=1 color="#666666"
face=Arial><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666'><a
href="http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSL0559096520070910?src=091007_0820_FEATURES_science">http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSL0559096520070910?src=091007_0820_FEATURES_science</a><br>
Mon Sep 10, 2007 9:25AM EDT<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>By Tom Perry<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>BYBLOS</span></font></st1:City><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>, <st1:country-region
w:st="on">Lebanon</st1:country-region></span></font></st1:place><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> (Reuters) - A
Lebanese scientist following the genetic footprint of the ancient Phoenicians
says he has traced their modern-day descendants, but stumbled into an old controversy
about identity in his country.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Geneticist Pierre Zalloua has charted the spread of
the Phoenicians out of the eastern Mediterranean by identifying an ancient type
of DNA which some Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians share with Maltese,
Spaniards and Tunisians.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>A seafaring civilization which reached its zenith
between 1200 and 800 BC, the Phoenicians' earliest cities included <st1:City
w:st="on">Byblos</st1:City>, <st1:City w:st="on">Tyre</st1:City> and <st1:City
w:st="on">Sidon</st1:City> on <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Lebanon</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s
coast.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>But their link to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Lebanon</st1:place></st1:country-region>, whose borders were drawn
as recently as 1920, has long been a subject of controversy in a country split
between an array of religious communities. "Negotiating these waters is a
very delicate job," Zalloua said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Seeking to set themselves apart from their Muslim
compatriots, some Lebanese Christians have drawn on the Phoenician past to try
to forge an identity separate from the prevailing Arab culture.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>"Whenever I use the word 'Phoenician', people
say 'this guy is trying to say we are not Arabs'," said Zalloua, himself a
Christian. But after five years of research, the scientist says his work has
shown what Lebanese have in common. "We had a great history -- let's look
at it," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>The genetic marker which identifies descendants of
the ancient Levantines is found among members of all of <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Lebanon</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s
religious communities, he said. "It's a story that can actually unite <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Lebanon</st1:place></st1:country-region> much
more than anything else."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>The marker, known as the J2 haplogroup, was found in
an unusually high proportion among Lebanese, Palestinians and Syrians tested by
Zalloua during more than five years of research. He tested 1,000 people in the
region.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>FROM <st1:country-region w:st="on">LEBANON</st1:country-region>
TO <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">SPAIN</st1:place></st1:country-region><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>"The further south you go, the less likely you
are to see this marker. The further north and the further inland you go, the
less you see of this marker. It is very Levantine," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>The same marker was found in unusually high
proportions on other parts of the Mediterranean coast where the Phoenicians are
known to have established colonies, such as <st1:City w:st="on">Carthage</st1:City>
in today's <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Tunisia</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>"It's abundantly present in the <st1:place
w:st="on">Iberian peninsula</st1:place>," Zalloua added. In <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Malta</st1:place></st1:country-region>, the
ancient DNA type was found in an extremely high 30 percent of samples, he said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>"We are seeing a pattern of expansion out of the
<st1:place w:st="on">Levant</st1:place> area along the maritime routes the
Phoenicians used," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>The J2 haplogroup has been dated using a calculation
based on the rate at which DNA mutates. The fewer the mutations on any given
type of DNA, the older it is.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>"Our calculation estimates it at roughly 12,000
years old, plus or minus 5,000 years. It's an old haplogroup and we are pretty
sure it originated in this area," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Many Lebanese were keen to take part in the research,
giving either a blood sample or a cheek swab so DNA could be extracted from
their cells.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>"They wanted to see if they are actually old
Levantine or not. This area has been mixed through invasions. It has been a
crossroads of many populations," Zalloua said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Albert Akl, 61, took part out of curiosity about his
ancestry. Tests showed he had the J2 haplogroup.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>"UNIFYING FORCE"<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>"We belong to this area -- we are not
passers-by," said Akl, an engineer. Although Phoenician history should be
a source of pride for Lebanese, Akl said its importance should not be blown out
of proportion in today's <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Lebanon</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>"It carries no big meaning," said Akl,
adding that he views himself as "Lebanese, Arab and Christian -- in that
order".<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>The research has thrown up surprise results for some.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Zalloua tested his own DNA and found a type common in
<st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Iran</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Another
participant, Joseph Tabat, got an unusual result.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>"I was always intrigued as to why I look
different to the rest of the guys in high school," he said. "I'm a
red-head with freckles." Tabat's DNA matched types found in <st1:country-region
w:st="on">France</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on">Spain</st1:country-region>,
perhaps a sign that one of his ancestors was a European who arrived in the <st1:place
w:st="on">Middle East</st1:place> during the Crusades.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>"Many of the people who think they are
Phoenicians are not -- like me," he said. "I'd like to see a high
percentage of Lebanese going through this experience. I think it would be a unifying
force and not a divisive one."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><span class=timestamp2><font size=1 color="#666666"
face=Arial><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial'>© Reuters 2006. All
rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including
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written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered
trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.</span></font></span><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=1 color="#666666"
face=Arial><span style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#666666'>Reuters
journalists are subject to the Reuters Editorial Handbook which requires fair
presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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