The study of the "foreign" mummy was unethical and imperfect, according to experts



[ad_1]

The mummy of Atacama, also known as "Atma", and the "Alien Mummy", was discovered 15 years ago in the Atacama Desert. Because of its striking features, a well-deformed head, missing ribs and deformed face, it does not look like most skeletons that people see. Considering it's only about six inches long, some people thought it could be extraterrestrial. The researchers decided to take a closer look at the Atma, and in so doing, they were cited as being significantly defective, and probably crossing an ethical boundary.

According to tests, the skeletal remains were determined to be of human origin, the alien hunters' disappointment everywhere. Many paranormal enthusiasts always insist that Atma is an extraterrestrial and that the government is covering it. Garry Nolan, professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University, declared Live Science in an email that the strange appearance of the skeleton was due to several genetic mutations that have never been reported before. Nolan went on to detail how the mutations caused such a dramatic effect on the body, and that the reverse engineering of the sample could lead to breakthroughs regarding bone growth disorders and help people whose bones were catastrophically damaged to recover. & # 39; Mummy study was deeply wrong & unethical https://t.co/Nkk3Zh4uHz via @gizmodo

– Dr. Kristina Killgrove (@DrKillgrove) July 19, 2018

July 18, a second team of researchers published their results after studying Atma. Sian Halcrow, of the University of Otago, New Zealand, led a team of international experts who conducted a more in-depth review of the Atma. What they found is much less exciting than what Nolan and his team found. The Halcrow team concluded that Atma was, in fact, human, but only about 15-16 weeks of gestation, according to a column appearing on Gizmodo . They further conclude that there was nothing unusual about the Atma.

Kristina Killgrove, co-author of the study and bioarchaeologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said in her article that Atma would look strange to the average person, but only because the average person is not used to seeing fetal mummies 15-16 months in gestation. She also concluded that there was no skeletal abnormality in the fetus at this stage of development. Their team was not able to locate one of the anomalies cited in the Genome Research document. Absolutely nothing was out of the ordinary in their expert opinion. Halcrow wrote the opinion for the study concerning ethics.

"Unfortunately, there was no scientific justification for undertaking genomic analyzes of Ata because the skeleton is normal, the identified genetic mutations are probably coincidental, and none of the genetic mutations occur. is known to be strongly associated with skeletal pathology that would affect the skeleton at this young age. "

According to Live Science 39, New Zealand team asked Nolan and his team to cross ethical boundaries submitting the remains to the test, saying the action was useless because there was nothing out of it. On the body. Another co-author of the study, Bernardo Arriaza, a bioarchaeologist from the University of Tarapacá in Chile, gave his opinion that the fetus was coming from a more recent loss, probably a miscarriage. Killgrove also issued an additional opinion on the fact that the Nolan team did not need to test Atma the way they did it.

"Since the mummified fetus was clearly human, geneticists did not need to do any other tests.More problematic than this, once they tested and found that c & rsquo; Was human, they did not immediately stop and questioned the forensic or archaeological ethics.If the fetal mummy was old or newer, Chile requires permits for this kind of test. We believe that these geneticists should have involved from the beginning a specialist in developmental skeletal biology, as they would not have made any mistakes as a beginner. "

Kilgrove concludes:" We also want to use this as a warning. "

The Nolan study is presented as a warning to inexperienced and overzealous researchers, showing that there is a good methodology to follow to conduct a study, especially those that involve human remains. Besides, it has been pointed out that in their zeal to make a revolutionary discovery, ignoring the proper methodology has led them to cross ethical boundaries, and potentially even violating international law because there is no filing on how whose Atma was removed from Peru. A call to repatriate the remains of the Atma was launched, as well as for a bit of humanity in what was cited as a too sensationalist procedure.

Neither Nolan nor any of his team members responded to requests for advice. study to theirs. The Chilean government is still involved insofar as they have questions about the providence of the Atma, in relation to the complaints of the Council of Chilean National Monuments deposited on the remains. Stanford University, where Nolan's study was conducted, made no comment, except that the university had no part in the mummified skeleton removed from its point of origin.

[ad_2]
Source link