DNA: Cracking the Ancestor Code

Scientists have been delving into your past!

Most of us know where our grandparents came from and some of us even know the names of our great great grandparents. But have you ever wondered where your ancestors were living at the time of Julius Cesar or during the Ice Age? There's a new breed of scientist that is helping to answer such questions. Archaeogeneticists are combining the fields of anthropology, history and genetics to trace the origins and migrations of our ancient ancestors across the planet. This complex and wonderful story is hidden in our DNA!

Since beginning the earlier Immigrants All! project in 2004 we have tested the ancestral DNA of 200 CSUEB students, faculty, staff and affiliates. Our exhibition presents their migration stories, information on the science behind ancestral DNA analysis, and artifacts relevant to various migration histories.

Begin your journey in Africa 60,000 years ago by following the genetic footprints of your ancestors into the Middle East, Central Asia, Europe, and across the Bering Strait into the Americas. Celebrate the diversity of our community and experience the variety of pathways that have led us here to the East Bay. Visit the C.E. Smith Museum of Anthropology and begin your own "genetic excavation" today!

DNA: Cracking the Ancestor Code

2007 Exhibit Dates: March 2 - June 15, 2007

Immigrants All! Our Migration Tales & Genetic Trails

2006 Exhibit Dates: February 27 - June 9, 2006

ERNIE EBAYLEY DOES DNA

Confused about all this ancestral DNA stuff? Download our instructional comic and have Y-man and Mitomama explain it.

AVENTURA DE NETO CON ADN

¿Está confundido sobre el mecanismo de ADN ancestral? Y-man y Mitomama pueden explicarselo facilmente (19 mb).

HISTORY'S MYSTERIES

Ötzi, Thomas Jefferson & Sally Hemings, the Grand Duchess Anastasia, etc. See how DNA helped solve mysteries about their lives.

WHERE DO WE COME FROM?

See the detailed migration paths of 30 of our participants and share in the surprises revealed by their DNA analysis.

MORE RESEARCH RESOURCES

If you are researching your own DNA results, this resource page has links to over 100 DNA articles, web sites, and audio files.

EXHIBITION GUIDE

A map and short description of the highlights of the DNA: Cracking the Ancestor Code exhibition.

OUR Y GUYS

Explore the Y-chromosome tree and follow the ancestral migrations of 101 CSUEB men in this slide show.

mtDNA HAPLOTYPE GAME

In the museum you are assigned a new mtDNA identity. Can you figure out who you are and what your haplogroup is?

EUROPEAN PALEOCAST

Direct from the Ice Age we present continuous bulletins from 30,000 years of life along the European genetic trail.


PRESS REVIEWS

2006 STUDENT STAFF