Dr. Karl Skorecki works on the cutting edge of molecular science, revolutionizing medicine through genetics and the use of stem cells to test anti-cancer therapies.
But as a sideline, the former University of Toronto professor has become world famous for applying genetics to genealogy and transforming history. He has found evidence to support traditional claims that modern-day Jewish priests, Cohanim, are descended from a single common male ancestor – biblically said to be Aaron, the older brother of Moses.
Among the other intriguing findings he has uncovered: that 40% of Ashkenazi Jews can trace their descent to four “founding mothers” who lived in Europe 1,000 years ago, evidence that all Jewish communities share a common paternal origin in the Near East, and genetic evidence supporting claims southern Africa’s Lemba tribe may be Africa’s “Black Jews.”
Read the full article by Peter Goodspeed in the October 27, 2009 edition of the National Post.
