THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
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May 10, 2005

Your page-one article about James Sorenson's DNA project to map human genealogy ("Family Business: Search for Roots Is Blooming Field for Utah Billionaire," April 26) neglected to mention one of the great ironies of the Mormon billionaire's project. The very kind of DNA research he is funding could be a blow to one of the fundamental historic teachings from the Book of Mormon -- that American Indians are descendants of Israelite immigrants to the Americas who arrived on this continent about 590 B.C. Extensive DNA data hasn't validated the belief that Native Americans are descended from Near Easterners; rather, they appear to be from East Asian, or Mongolian, stock.

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