Melungeon DNA Project
The Melungeon DNA Project is a genetic study by the private company Family Tree DNA of people with identified Melungeon ancestors (according to historic records), mostly residing in Hancock County, Tennessee and nearby areas of Kentucky. The study was started in 2005. Researchers published an article in 2012 summarizing their results. The female ancestors were shown to have had European DNA, while the male ancestors were shown to have had DNA from both African and European haplogroups.
Background
The term "Melungeon" was used by others from the early 19th century to describe a group of people living in Hancock County, Tennessee, and nearby areas. It was a pejorative name. Vardy Collins is considered the patriarch of the Melungeons. Author Roberta Estes states the first mention of Melungeons was in 1810, listing them as neither Negro nor Indian, but as "foreigners."
Marriage to whites by African, Native American, or any free people of color, was prohibited by law from the mid-18th century. In the mid-to-late 19th century, some Melungeons were viewed as white by their neighbors and by the law, as evidenced by some Melungeons serving in the military, voting, and carrying arms—all citizen obligations, and rights typically reserved for whites. While the communities stayed endogamous until 1900, Melungeons increasingly found themselves marrying white settlers afterward.
Project Cadmus
Project Cadmus is a fictional genetic engineering project in the DC Comics Universe. It was created by Jack Kirby as the DNA Project in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #133 (October 1970), and was run by the former Newsboy Legion. Its notable creations included the Golden Guardian (a clone of the original Guardian), Auron and Dubbilex, a DNAlien telepath who resembles a tall grey alien with horns. Its 31st Century descendants run the Justice League 3000 clone project.
Fictional history
The project was founded by Dabney Donovan, Reginald Augustine and Thomas Thompkins. The Cadmus facilities were originally constructed in a large, abandoned aqueduct outside of Metropolis. Exploration soon uncovered a vast array of caverns close to the facilities. These would become important later.
Dabney Donovan was ultimately fired from the Project because he felt there should never be limits in understanding the potential of the genetic code. Donovan had largely been accredited for the non-human creations of the Project, referred to as "DNAliens" (human beings cloned then genetically altered to discover superhuman potential while also giving them a more "alien" appearance), various normal clones, monsters based on Donovan's favorite horror films (who lived on a small artificial planet on Earth called Transilvane). One of the DNAliens named Dubbilex became a prominent staff member.
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