La Voz de Galicia – February 8, 2019 →
My sister Teté sent me the article written by journalist Raúl Romar about Galicia’s «genetic small holding» where he discusses the findings of scientific research teams at Oxford and Santiago de Compostela universities published this week in the journal Nature Communications. Their work not only displays a body of scientists of whom we should feel proud but also unites passion and excellence to one of the most influential names in Galicia: the geneticist Ángel Carracedo.
When I read R. Romar’s «translation», I remembered the reasons that prompted me to seek my own genetic history a few years ago, and I also remembered the surprise with which I viewed the results..
The truth is that even if one has free access to the original publication (the article was published with an open access license from Creative Commons), those of us who are not scientists need spokespeople like R. Romar to help us understand the depth of this matter. In another article, he assumed the subject of endogamy through the eyes of historians and anthropologists such as Ramón Villares and Manuel Mandianes in such a way as to make me think about many of the marriages taking place during Galician immigration in the twentieth century since we also carried with us a way of gathering according to parishes in the countries that received us.
Perhaps, Carracedo’s team most fascinating discovery is the historical moment in which it finds us. Genetics helps us understand what we are, even though we don’t seem to want to see it: a diverse people, full of nuances and migratory movements that construct our social and cultural identity—this is our treasure.
