Are we Syke(d) about Bigfoot DNA and should we hold Ketchum responsible for not passing the muster?

The DNA wars still rage in the world of Bigfoot. Up until recently though, the field has taken the same questionable tactics as many others purporting evidence. I can understand spending many months of your life and how much of a let down it may be when the results don’t turn out the way that would have benefited you as a researcher, but shame on Melba Ketchum for taking the shady route for publishing her very questionable results and in the manner she did. There is a reason scientific journals refused to publish her report and she has been lambasted by others in her field. Agendas most of the time make poor bedfellows for science and we should question those results as boldly as we question other types of evidence. When people like Melba Ketchum take the channels she has, I say a zero tolerance policy should be enacted and we stand together and ban the individual from ever again entertaining our thoughts of something legit ever coming out of them. As long as we tolerate records like these, it will only continue to be acceptable in our hobby and hence the norm.
I say Melba is toast! Now on to the good news. 

Bryan Sykes a geneticist at the University of Oxford (who knows full well the scoffable nature and downsides of entertaining Sasquatch DNA) as well as the Lausanne Museum of Zoology in Switzerland have taken the challenge of the cryptologists who say science just outright rejects their claims and is asking for anything they have to provide for DNA testing. So here is the chance of those in the field who claim science has turned their back on them to put up or shut up and bring in their hair and scat samples and anything else that can be tested (the deadline for samples was this time last year 2012). The project will also focus on “the Lausanne’s archive of remains, collected by a Bernard Heuvelmans and his reported Yeti sightings that were collected from 1950 to 2001 when he passed away”. Quoting from early 2012, while not very confident that a sample will be brought forward that proves the existence of an unknown creature, Sykes says "nothing would make him happier if it did". “Science does not accept or reject hypotheses but evaluates them on the basis of evidence. This is why I am confident that examining the evidence of alleged Yetis does not fall outside the realm of proper scientific inquiry.” So here is a man offering credibility to a subject that sometimes lacks it and I am hopeful all parties have taken full advantage of this opportunity.

DNA testing accuracy has jumped leaps and bounds over the last few years and a small fragment of a hair shaft can provide conclusive results of an unknown hominid if it in fact is one. Just in the last three years we now know that 2 to 4 percent of the DNA of Europeans is Neanderthal, so we know with factual basis that there was interbreeding between them and modern humans tens of thousands of years ago. One theory of Sasquatch is that it is perhaps a Neanderthal or a relative of theirs. I personally don’t hold that same theory, but we should be happy that someone with the credentials and caliber of Sykes is coming in to give DNA studies on Bigfoot evidence some validity, which was partially spurred on by Ketchum’s high school science project approach.

A recent article has indicated that the project was wrapped up in August of this year and that results will be forthcoming in a matter of weeks and published in a peer reviewed report and also be included in an upcoming documentary. The latest buzz is that something leaning towards a positive confirmation is coming our way as Sykes (a native of England)has been busy traveling to different locations in North America, speaking with Bigfoot researchers as well as U.S Fish and Wildlife officials. The thinking goes, if the results were all negative these actions would not be taking place, but I am not coming to any conclusions and will wait patiently to see what they have come up with.

So we wait, we hope and we see if 2013 doesn’t come through after all as the year of Bigfoot. Could be we are in for a treat or could be more of the same. What gives me a positive feeling on these studies is that we have a very well known, accredited and praised geneticist in Bryan Sykes that does not have an agenda to lean one way or another. We can trust that he will be diligent and not pull any punches when the results are revealed. We as the hopeful looking for proof need people like Sykes to join our plight, because without, we are always going to be left questioning credibility. This has the potential of rewriting the history books and really opening the door for more scientists of good name and practices.
I look forward to good news, but wont be shattered if the results are all negative and neither should you. We should just be pleased that for the moment the taboo of the subject was set aside for real science to take a peek. Here's to a hopeful outcome and as much credibility as can be afforded Bigfoot for now.

Ready, set...Bigfoot!
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