DNA ‘evidence’ for Himalayan yetis doesn’t bear scrutiny

Enough evidence?

samrich2003

The recent DNA testing of two hairs, purportedly from yeti, has attracted a lot of public interest. Does the evidence show that yetis exist? Well, not just yet. The test looked at mitochondrial DNA sequences, which looks at genetic material that is only inherited from the mother. This is a relatively easy test, because mitochondrial DNA is present in many copies in every cell, so there is more to work with in small or degraded samples.

Critically, the testing was conducted in a lab that works primarily on humans, and it produced sequences that turned out to be bear-like—specifically polar bear-like. We haven’t seen the data, but we would find this result convincing. If Bryan Sykes, professor of human genetics at Oxford University, had found the DNA to be human, there would be questions about possible contamination, because a tiny fleck of skin can easily contribute spurious DNA.

Assuming that the hair samples came from polar bears, the next question is how they came to be in the Himalayas. Many alternative explanations need to be eliminated before we can take this potential discovery, and its relationship to the yeti legends, seriously.