Bigfoot DNA Sequenced? Not So Fast

Bigfoot pervades the headlines of countless blogs on the internet, but it's not often that the mythological creature appears in an accredited scientific journal. 

A team of scientists led by Dr. Melba S. Ketchum claim to have sequenced Sasquatch's DNA and have composed a study which is currently undergoing the process of peer-review. While it is too early to determine if the research is credible, DNA Diagnostics recently posted a press release which suggests that Bigfoot is "a human relative that arose approximately 15,000 years ago as a hybrid cross of modern Homo sapiens with an unknown primate species."

Ketchum states, "Sasquatch nuclear DNA is incredibly novel and not at all what we had expected. White it has nuclear DNA within its genome, there are also distinctly non-human, non-archaic hominin, and non-ape sequences. We describe it as a mosaic of human and novel non-human sequence. Further study is needed and is ongoing to better characterize and understand Sasquatch nuclear DNA."

She adds, "Our study has sequenced 20 whole mitochondrial genomes and utilized next generation sequencing to obtain 3 whole nuclear genomes from purported Sasquatch samples. The genome sequencing shows that Sasquatch mtDNA is identical to modern Homo sapiens, but Sasquatch nuDNA is a novel, unknown hominin related to Homo sapiens and other primate species. Our data indicate that the North American Sasquatch is a hybrid species, the result of males of an unknown hominin species crossing with female Homo sapiens."

As the Houston Chronicle points out, it is unusual for scientific studies to be exposed before the publishing process has been completed, and there are numerous credibility issues associated to the author of the study. Take this with a grain of salt, or as a piece of entertainment, depending on your perspective.