I talked to Unnur Thorsteinsdottir at DeCODE this week. She is the Vice President of Research and a very nice person!! We think there is a great scientific opportunity to do a population genomic study as part of the Fara Heim expedition.

If the Norse in the Arctic did settle for up to 400 years like they are suspected to have done there should be a genetic track. As part of talking to the ancestors of the non-Norse settlers about their history and stories of any interactions with Europeans we think this is a great chance to look for genetic traces.

Science has advanced so much over even the last 20 years that genetic sampling is as easy a mouth swab. It’s kind of funny that Icelanders of the 21st century may have developed the science to be able to prove the presence of Icelanders from 1,000 years ago.

Unnur is talking to her colleagues at deCODE about selecting someone to come onboard Fara Heim as our genetic advisor and detective.

Thanks Unnur,

David

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