Monday, July 14, 2014

The Sykes Farce aka Genetic analysis of hair samples attributed to yeti, bigfoot and other anomalous primates



Sykes has published his “paper” and in my opinion it is a complete joke; there is no other way to say it. He did not set out to find the truth but to sabotage the Ketchum DNA Study. Here are just some of the areas that show bias and major inconsistencies.

His abstract makes the erroneous claim “In the first ever systematic genetic survey, we have used rigorous decontamination followed by mitochondrial 12S RNA sequencing to identify the species origin of 30 hair samples attributed to anomalous primates.” Ladies and Gentlemen, in my opinion that is just an outright LIE, no other way to say it, the Ketchum DNA study tested over 100 samples, used strict forensic protocols, used over half a dozen independent labs and suffered through exhausting and unfair reviews and critiques for over three years. (Click here to review the entire Sasquatch Genome Paper)

Some other items of interest concerning the “Sykes Paper”.

1.      It appears, but is not properly documented, that the Oxford lab facilities did not test the hair samples, but a lab named Mitotyping Technologies located in New York??? (Ref 9 and 10 Sykes Paper)
2.      Rhett Mullins is listed as the second author he is not a scientist, and non-scientist are never listed a co-authors of scientific papers.
3.      Incomplete materials and methods section.
4.      Incomplete references for the materials and methods.
5.      No statement to which lab or lab(s) tested the samples.
6.      References the Ketchum DNA study on contamination without proof.
7.      Only a total of 503 bases were sequenced for mtDNA only.
8.      The human sample was not tested on any nuDNA loci to determine species or unknown sequence.
9.      It appears that the US Fish and Wildlife screened the hair samples for testing. Is the US Fish and Wildlife Forensic Laboratory so incompetent that they would pass on to Sykes easily identifiable samples such as Horse, Black Bear, Wolf, Dog, Coyote, and cow????? It seems to me Sykes did not want to test real “Bigfoot hair” and wanted negative results.
10.   Dr. Sykes makes the laughable claim on just 503 bases: “The techniques described here put an end to decades of ambiguity about species identification of anomalous primate samples and set a rigorous standard against which to judge any future claims".
11.   Some samples would not amplify. Are these the “real deal”? Dr. Ketchum discovered during her study that genuine Sasquatch hair will not yield mtDNA, it is a unique property of Sasquatch hair. You must have a skin tag in order to get DNA that will amplify. It appears Sykes did not do his homework. He processed hair only samples with no skin tags that may have been Sasquatch hair and of course these hairs would not amplify or yield usable DNA for testing. 


This paper would have never stood up to the peer review process that the Ketchum DNA Study was subjected too  by the Journal Nature. In short this paper in my opinion was no more than an attempt to discredit the American Bigfoot Community, muddy the water, and discredit the Kethcum DNA Study. I say MAJOR FAIL Dr. Sykes…..

Click here to read a critical commentary by  Norman MacLeod, The Natural History Museum, London, UK

3 comments:

  1. Outstanding assessment Scott. As always, my mind is drawn to "WHY?" Who is behind the attempts to discredit Melba? The Sykes "report" is an obvious farce, full of lies and unsubstantiated narrative. "Who" remains the unanswered question IMHO.

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  2. Great work Scott !! Sykes has had issues with previous work, such as the North American DNA study he did a few years back & his "Blood of the Vikings" fiasco. I'm not shocked now either.

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  3. I agree with Dave, who indeed. This was obviously rigged from the
    start with no attempt to prove anything. But, rather to disprove. One
    of the words thrown about in our times is " spin ". How can someone
    spin an argument to favor their point of view. This is normally done
    by controlling all aspects of the conversation or in this case the testing
    with no descent allowed to enter. One would have to question the U.S.
    Fish and Wildlife Laboratory ability to remain neutral in a test such as
    this. And I for one would say there is some interest by some forces
    to make sure these tests were flawed. A test is nothing more than a chain of events produced to determine an outcome. If the chain is
    compromised by one link in the chain, the test is compromised.

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