In 1845 , two ship departed England in search of unexplored areas within the Canadian Arctic , hoping to expose enigma that lay in magnetic datum to help aid exploration . Lead by Captain Sir John Franklin , the crew of 129 sailed into the freeze out lands of what is now Nunavut , Canada , and into theVictoria Strait . This would be the last time Franklin , and all of his men , were ever seen again .
As a grim admonisher of the fateful dispatch , the remains of desperate sailor have been discovered across King William Island , many of which had sample taken for analysis . Now , DNA testing has key and reconstruct an officer who met his demise on the expedition , mark the first person from the gang to ever have been confirmed through desoxyribonucleic acid analytic thinking . The final result , develop by the University of Waterloo , were print in the journalPolar Record .
The straw hat in question was John Gregory , a Warrant Officer and engineer aboard the HMS Erebus , whose corpse were discovered 75 km to the south of Erebus Bay , where the frozen shipwreck was found . After tooth and bones were sampled for DNA , scientists have positively identified him through genetic psychoanalysis of his living descendants .
" Having John Gregory ’s remains being the first to be identified via genetic analysis is an incredible twenty-four hour period for our home , as well as all those concerned in the ill - doom Franklin expedition , " said Gregory ’s great - neat - great grandson Jonathan Gregory , who lives in Port Elizabeth , South Africa , in astatement .
" The whole Gregory family is extremely grateful to the entire enquiry team for their inscription and hard study , which is so vital in unlock pieces of story that have been frozen in meter for so long . "
What is known about the doomed voyage has been patch together from local Inuit people , letters written prior to the crew ’s disappearance , and examinations of remains of the fall gang member . The HMS Erebus and HMS Terror were wait in Baffin Bay , a bay to the West of Greenland , in July 1845 for a good opportunity to continue on their path . This sighting of the two ships , made by whalers top the area , is the last confirmed sighting of the gang live . allot to a note discovered in the aftermath , prognosticate theVictory Point note , Franklin and the crew became stuck in ice in September 1846 , around King William Island . These ship would never sail again , but the gang are thought to have stayed on the ships for a few years whilst they sustain out hope for a release from the surround meth .
In 1848 , a hunting party was sent to unwrap the fate of the lost ship . This , combine with the efforts of subsequent explorers over the next century , would begin to unravel the mystery surrounding the pleasure trip ’s conclusion . In 2014 and 2016 , the wreck of the Erebus and Terror would be chance upon .
Analyses of the corpse and accounts from the locals shine a light source on the atrocious trial by ordeal experienced by the sailors , who succumb to starvation , hypothermia and vitamin deficiencies as they struggled in the inhospitable experimental condition . According to Deutschmark on the bones of skeleton and conversations with an Inuk by explorerJohn Rae , some acquire so heroic that they turn to cannibalism .
With so many of the bunch still unidentified , the personation of one of the men marks an of import milestone for helping ease the minds of their posterity . The men live sinful lives and deserve to be sympathise , and the researchers are now make plea to aid identify the remaining 26 bodies they have encounter .
" We are extremely thankful to the Gregory family for sharing their fellowship history with us and for providing DNA samples in support of our research . We ’d like to further other descendants of members of the Franklin Expedition to contact our team to see if their DNA can be used to place the other 26 individual , " said Douglas Stenton , professor of anthropology at Waterloo and Centennial State - writer of anew paperabout the discovery .
