Canadian archaeologists first used DNA to identify the remains of a Franklin expedition sailor and link him to his present-day descendants.
The two ships of the English expedition and all 129 men went searching in 1848 lost after the Northwest Passage.
University of Waterloo archaeologist Doug Stenton took DNA samples from the remains of one of the sailors and found his family.
John Gregory, one of Franklin’s engineers, was the great-great -Ur-grandfather of Jonathan Gregory of Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Stenton said the goal was to learn as much as possible about the men who died on this doomed and legendary expedition.
Ref: https://www.kitchenertoday.com
