Newspaper Article

We're rediscovering Columbus through DNA samples

Dugard, Martin

2006

Overview

The investigation is being led by Dr. Jose Antonio Lorente, a former instructor at the FBI academy whose work has been instrumental in identifying victims of Spanish Civil War atrocities. Saturday -- when Lorente is scheduled to present his findings -- marks the 500th anniversary of Columbus' death, adding a ceremonial aspect to the inquiry. Lorente exhumed Columbus' remains in 2003 to take DNA samples of the explorer and then compare them to those of his brother Diego and his illegitimate son, Fernando, to establish a common genetic map. The next step was gathering saliva samples, looking for the matching mitochondrial evidence that will pinpoint Columbus' true ancestry. Columbus' body was later moved to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, then Cuba, then back to Spain, to Seville. The Dominican Republic claims that Columbus' body never left that island nation, and it has built a great lighthouse tomb to house his remains. Lorente's DNA samples are expected to prove where they truly reside, though even then, both the Dominican Republic and Spain may be right: Columbus' bones could have been divided into two boxes by some sentimental Dominican caretaker, ensuring that at least part of the explorer would never leave the city that he founded, governed and named for his father.

• Publisher: Torstar Syndication Services, a Division of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited