DNA Stolen from Waorani Tribe in Ecuador

Honestly, first time I've ever heard about stolen DNA, it can't be good.

Quito, July 11 (EFE). - Ecuador denounced the extraction of DNA samples from the Waorani indigenous people without their consent and their sale by a U.S. company.

Amazing, it's been happening since the 90's and now it came up.

Around 1990-1991 two Americans, one of whom worked for the oil company Maxus, extracted some Waorani blood from their communities with the argument that they would consider their health status.

According to their research, the samples were acquired by a scientist at the Medical School of Harvard University in the United States, and later sent to the Coriell Institute, a medical research center based in the state of New Jersey.

The Office stated that since 1994 until now this laboratory has sent seven institutions in eight countries 36 cell culture samples, Ecuador claims this violates Ecuador's Constitution, which prohibits "the use of genetic material and scientific experiments that violate human rights ". Coriell did not respond to an email from Efe about it.

I don't know why that last part made think about Dr. Mengele,

Source :

noticias.latino.msn.com...

About the Waorani people :

Only 600 survive today, and 500 of these have been moved to a reservation, where they are increasingly influenced by Western ways. Of the other 100, half remain mercifully uncontacted. The rest live traditionally, but being aware of an outside world, they are at the top of a slippery slope which leads to the loss of most of their culture, exposure to Western diseases to which they have no resistance and, for any survivors, a life that will end
in bewilderment on a reservation.

www.lastrefuge.co.uk...

Maybe this is why :

Genetic uniqueness of the Waorani tribe from the Ecuadorian Amazon.

Cardoso S, Alfonso-Sánchez MA, Valverde L, Sánchez D, Zarrabeitia MT, Odriozola A, Martínez-Jarreta B, de Pancorbo MM.


Source

BIOMICs Research Group, Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados Lucio Lascaray, Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.


Abstract

South America and especially the Amazon basin is known to be home to some of the most isolated human groups in the world. Here, we report on a study of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in the Waorani from Ecuador, probably the most warlike human population known to date. Seeking to look in more depth at the characterization of the genetic diversity of this Native American tribe, molecular markers from the X and Y chromosomes were also analyzed. Only three different mtDNA haplotypes were detected among the Waorani sample.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...

only had to read U.S G.O.V.T and oil +stolen


And from that i can ell you it is most likely the truth.

I can fully understand the desire and even need for the blood but it sure gives me a creepy feeling. The US and MANY others have been raping those rain forests and highlands for better than a century now for every unique thing that can be found in vegetation and animal life. I really hope this never progresses into the step of adding people to that list. I suppose the public watching and not forgetting is their best defense down there, I'm not sure what else can be.....Such innocence. It really stops me short to think about how little they could do if their corner of the Jungle was deemed to be the next plots to be cleared.

Originally posted by SupersonicSerpent
only had to read U.S G.O.V.T and oil +stolen


And from that i can ell you it is most likely the truth.

Well....after reading that info, we are free to think the worst. I mean, they chose innocent ignorant people from the jungle to do this crap, why they don't mess with people who know their rights?

reply to post by Trueman

Is that Dennis Quaid in that picture?

Maybe he's in a government breeding program to repopulate the Earth after a new ice age begins.
It could happen.

Thank God they didn't choose Randy Quaid!

Originally posted by tvtexan
reply to post by Trueman

 

Maybe he's in a government breeding program to repopulate the Earth after a new ice age begins.
It could happen.

Maybe what they want is the incredible ability for violence the Waorani have :

The Waorani tribe of Amazonian Ecuador first became world famous in 1956, when they speared to death five American missionaries who had landed their light plane on a riverside sandbank and were trying to explain their plans to build an airstrip. Outsiders may have been shocked by the manner of the missionaries' departure, but to the Waorani, no way of dying could have been more ordinary. Spearing accounts for 40 per cent of deaths, usually in interfamilial vendettas; 20 per cent are shot or kidnapped by outsiders-a fact that may have influenced their way of greeting missionaries; and snakebite and other accidents account for most other deaths. Only about 1 per cent are 'natural'.

Waorani; to the Waorani, means 'people'. But to Ecuador's predominant indigenous group, the Quechua, they are Aucas, 'savages'. Indeed, there is much about their life-style that would invite the label. They have no writing, no reason to count higher than 10 and no history other than a tribal recollection that their ancestors came from "downriver; long ago". They roam naked in the jungle, hunting monkeys and birds with wooden blowguns and curare-tipped darts; for pigs they use spears. They also Use spears to deal with the incapable elderly, and unwanted babies are strangled with vines, burnt or buried alive. And by and large their contacts with the Quechua or any other outsiders have not been notably peaceable.

(same source)

reply to post by Trueman


You know, last night I was watching Broderick Crawford in action. There were these honeymooning kids, see, but the guy had 2 hours to live, since he was in the Navy, and there was some 'virus' or some such the groom had been exposed to, so Broderick had to chase the honeymooners down, and inject them both with a hypodermic syringe full of who knows what. It was just insane. Admittedly, I can't pay full attention to anything on a television monitor, but this was worth a repeat viewing.

The cops investigate, track, break into a cabin, and then chase the kids, and then a doctor hops out of a police car and jabs both of them with some vaccine or whatever, like, the kids had no choice.

Episode is called 'Breath of a Child', from 'Highway Patrol'; season 4 (final season) 1958-9.

I mean, what the ffff? This is 1958? I'm unsure if I prefer this, or the red headed power-adrenosurgingcop using a taser because he wanted a guy's ID?

www.youtube.com...

Both scenarios are horrible to contemplate. Bradbury deserves a review in our lives, if only for 451. Pure prophetic untethered genius. The way the actor cops strut around in 451 is just like the ginger cop in link. Add to this the Barney Fife voice...you just want to slug that guy.

There have been far worse exploitations of isolated cultures than this example, imo. They are doing this very thing, to every individual on earth, so why does this story offend?

reply to post by tvtexan


yeah Randy Quaid...yikes. To me the guy look more like Kevin Costner in the face. I'm still trying to figure out what he is doing in that picture. It looks like a photoshopped family portrait. The children look so innocent and lovely, it's hard to believe the adults are as savage to their unwanted babies as described. Of course reading our news headlines about what we so called civilized people are doing to our children, there is hardly a difference. At least they are culling to survive, I suppose, though I think they could choose a more humane method of dispatching their own flesh and blood. We abuse and torture children because we have mean, nasty, self serving sociopaths among us. I can't see how they are any more violent and primitive than some people I have the unfortunate experience of knowing personally. So I can hardly think their DNA is wanted for that reason. They are savage because we invade their territory and try to exploit them. Seems fair to me.

I would imagine the fact that the population is so small, isolated, and pure is what makes their DNA of so much interest. I doubt there is anything more sinister than normal scientific curiosity. Unfortunately this curiosity has led to an ethically questionable action against a population that can't adequately represent its wishes in our system.

Originally posted by SheeplFlavoredAgain
reply to post by tvtexan

 

I doubt there is anything more sinister than normal scientific curiosity.

Then explain me why they dindn't make it public. Also, the Waorani's DNA was extracted and used without consent. They lied them in order to take the samples.

Last time I checked, steal was a crime.

Here another link, with a video that shows how sinister is this :

The Waorani have a reputation of being the fiercest warriors in the Amazon. They have never been conquered or colonized.

Since Oil Companies have entered their territory, the Waorani have made deals, *oil for a pack of noodles and two soccer balls*, deals in exchange for nothing.

The Waorani will continue to struggle for their survival, but in order to preserve their homeland and culture they must, paradoxically, adopt modern ways.

vimeo.com...

reply to post by Trueman


The tone of your question sounds a bit confrontational. This isn't going to end well so I respectfully excuse myself from this thread and apologize for offending you. I was just thinking that we hear all the time of researchers taking some ethical shortcuts here and there to obtain the things they want to study, be it embryos, cadavers, etc. The ends of course do not justify the means to most of us with a sense of decency but there are times we see decency shoved aside in the quest for some goal. I was just meaning I don't think they were necessarily going to do anything sinister like some freaky cloning experiment. Scientists are always keen to study isolated "pure" populations. I'm descended from a group of peasant farmers that was extensively studied because of their reputed longevity. I would imagine most data was gathered via informed consent but it wouldn't shock me if not all of it was. A lot of the elders were simple peasant folk who probably couldn't understand the full scope of the research.

Originally posted by SheeplFlavoredAgain
reply to post by Trueman

 

The tone of your question sounds a bit confrontational. This isn't going to end well so I respectfully excuse myself from this thread and apologize for offending

Yeah I know I get to excited in my posts sometimes, but I never have the intention to offend anybody. Please accept my apology.

reply to post by Trueman


Thank you. I think we are actually in agreement that these people are being exploited. I'm just of the belief...or rather hope...that the ends are merely to increase our knowledge of them to benefit us all and perhaps aid them in the future, to help develop medicines that might save them as they get exposed to more of our germs and pollution. I know the studies done on my ancestors helped increase knowledge about the benefits of diet and strong family ties on longevity, and helped to rule out racial differences as a factor. I can see how it is to the benefit of all humankind to study in depth all the variations among us. Sometimes zeroing in on certain populations can help eliminate or isolate certain variables to enhance a study. It is why we've sampled data from Amish and certain Jewish populations in the past.

But...with the interests of the military industrial complex looming forever over every scientific investigation and endeavor, I concede that my optimism and hope for Waorani may be naive. Especially if we dehumanize them in our minds due to their primitive and violent ways to justify taking liberties we'd never dare with a population more similar to ours. I can understand your concern over the possibility of "unwholesome" interest in their propensity to violence. But given the harsh environment in which they live and the exploitative nature of the outsiders they've encountered, it is probable the scientists were already operating under the assumption that aspect of their behavior was more due to nurture rather than nature.

We already have so many strict taboos in place essentially restricting researchers from undertaking, or at least publicizing any studies which might yield results concluding any one race is more likely to be violent than another due to genetics. A study on their genes to isolate a possible violent tendency would indeed be very hush hush. Military applications seem limited. Ive always heard from my dad that the best soldiers everyone wanted around were the cool headed rational thinkers, not the violent hotheads.

Originally posted by SheeplFlavoredAgain
reply to post by Trueman

 

Military applications seem limited. Ive always heard from my dad that the best soldiers everyone wanted around were the cool headed rational thinkers, not the violent hotheads.

I was thinking in such a weapon, applied to an opposite group. Never had so many revolutions in the world like we have now. See, in the moment they did these to the Waorani in a secret and tricky way, we can't trust in them no more.