Imane Khelif has XY chromosomes according to the IBA and probably has DSD

Olympics boxing is broke thanks to woke. I am sensitive to gender issues but this has gone wrong. Please read the information provided carefully. Update: Khelif won gold! 😒😢

Imane Khelif and Angela Carini by Michael Broad

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There is uproar and the controversy about the recent boxing match at the Paris Olympics between Imane Khelif of Algeria and Angela Carini of Italy. Carini threw in the towel i.e. gave up, after 46 seconds of the bout because she had been hit by two punches that were the hardest that she has ever felt and caused her extreme pain, she said.

She stopped to protect herself from possible long-term injury. In effect she was surviving, saving her life because she instinctively felt that she was in danger of suffering a serious injury. And in the past, in boxing matches between men, there have been some serious brain injuries so it reminds us that boxing is a dangerous sport.

And due credit to her; for listening to her instincts. But the uproar comes about because Imane Khelif, with the deepest respect, it looks like a man and biologically, according to the International Boxing Association (IBA) she is a man because when they were in charge they conducted DNA tests which showed that Imane Khelif had "XY chromosomes and were thus excluded". They also refer to another boxer with XY chromosomes. Typically, biological sex is determined by chromosomes:

• XX chromosomes usually indicate a female.
• XY chromosomes usually indicate a male.

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This section is important as it explains a lot. And it is useful in understand what is going on.

Update:  The Times Saturday August 2024. This newspaper adds some useful information to this debate. The IOC, the organisation which vets and approves boxers in the Olympics, removed a reference from Kehlif's official profile yesterday saying that "her elevated levels of testosterone failed to meet the eligibility". Comment: it appears that online there was evidence, more evidence, that Imane Khelif was ineligible for the boxing match and shouldn't have been there.

What is more useful, to me, is Janice Turner's comment in the same paper. She has some useful information about the Algerian boxer's gender and DNA. She states that "two controversial boxes at these games, Imane Khelif and Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting, have a DSD. This stands for "difference of sexual development". It's a misunderstood phenomenon arguably wilfully misunderstood according to Janice Turner. These individuals are not "intersex" i.e. between a mix of the two sexes because no one is. She argues that they "almost certainly have 5-ARD: they are biological males with XY chromosomes but whose bodies lack the receptor that creates external male genitalia. She argues that the genitalia is internal but that the genitalia have produced testosterone in the case of these individuals. She adds that "at puberty their internal testes start producing testosterone at normal levels so they acquire most of the strength, muscle mass, height and power of other men."

The IOC spokesperson said that there is a witch-hunt is taking place and that Khelif "was born female, was registered female, lived her life as a female, boxed as a female, has a female passport." Yes, but the information above explains what's going on. And it's clear that some countries actively search out these people because they know that they will have the edge in female competitions of any kind but in boxing it is particularly dangerous to have this edge on common sense grounds.

Further sidebar/update on this story: two Times well-respected journalists have weighed in again on this ongoing story which has captivated the world. The first I want to mention is Owen Slot. He is a senior Times sports journalist. He starts off today with this paragraph "The boxing controversy at the heart of these Olympic Games was transformed into the most distasteful of circuses at the North Paris Arena yesterday. It is disgusting what has befallen two young athletes here, all in the name of sport." 

He very much believes that Khelif should not have been accepted as a boxer in this woman's event.

But we must be sensitive towards Khelif. It is said that he is a victim as well. And he strongly says that "I am a woman. I feel good. It's the first Algerian woman boxing medal. I want to thank the Arabic world." She had just won a bronze medal in her weight category. She weighs 66 kg. 

But then Algeria is her effective sponsor, and want her to win a gold medal. It is said by some that Algeria and other countries support women with DSD (it is reported that she has this condition) because they know they have an advantage in women's events. They have testosterone produced by internal testes. So arguably, and I say this with the greatest sensitivity, she may have been indoctrinated into believing that she is a woman and she is actually woman but with some male characteristics which I would argue make in illegible for this event.

The IOC is backpedalling all the time and making excuses and rationalising why she is in the event as is the South Korean boxer with a similar condition. And interestingly Donald Trump is weighed in by saying "I will keep men out of women's sports".

He, therefore, is strongly suggesting in that statement that he believes that Khelif is a man at least biologically/technically because once again I suggest we have to be sensitive to the way people feel about their gender. I'm very much for inclusivity and acceptance of one's feelings about gender.

I now turn to Camilla Long another well respected Times journalist who writes for The Sunday Times. She very much supports what I have said here. She argues that is it is very unfair that Khelif is in the competition and that fairness is central to a good Olympic Games and sport in general. 

She quotes Adams, the spokesperson for the IOC who said that "This is not a man fighting a woman".

Camilla Long responds by writing: 

"As it happens, Adams is wrong. If you have XY chromosomes and high testosterone levels as it is reasonable to assume these fighters do, for the purpose of sport, if not also life, you are a man. Caster Semenya, for example, [the 800 m runner with the same condition who won gold at the Rio Olympics on a podium with two other women also with the same condition allegedly] has XY chromosomes, was born with a vagina and undescended testicles, which produce testosterone. As she grew up, this hormone build muscle, strengthened her bones, created bigger lungs, allowing her to train harder and longer than women. When she refused to lower her testosterone, she won races. When she did she didn't. People like Adam say the matter is complicated as a way of trying to assert himself and put people off questioning it, but it's not. It really is simple. If you are genetically a man, with testicles, producing testosterone, you are a man. You are not fit to compete with a woman. There are simple tests for it". 

And she's not referring to undignified tests. She is referring to a DNA test using a cheek swab.

Further update from The Times Monday, August 5, 2024: yes, this is an evolving story and this further update is designed to help clarify this very complicated problem. I'm thankful to The Times newspaper. Essentially, the findings of the International boxing Association (IBA) as mentioned above that Khelif and Lin, the two female boxers at the centre of this storm at the current, Paris Olympics, have XY chromosomes was passed on to the International Olympics Committee (IOC). They knew that these two boxes have XY chromosomes but their argument is that they do not do gender tests and they only accept gender as per the boxer's passport! In other words they didn't accept the IBA test results but they accepted the passport and what the passport says about gender. I think we can heavily criticise the IOC for that because what the passport says simply isn't factual or scientific evidence that a person is male or female or has XX or XY chromosomes. It is what the government or the authorities or the parents say about their child or citizen. That is not conclusive proof. Particularly when the government has a vested interest in terms of achieving gold at the Olympics.

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It's important to note that while chromosomes play a crucial role in sex determination, they aren't the sole factor. Hormones and other biological processes also contribute to the development of sexual characteristics. Also it must be said that Khelif is not transgender. But IBA say that she has a man's DNA. Therefore she is a man surely? Gender critical Lottie Moore said the fight was an example of male violence against a women just like typical domestic violence. LBGT liberation campaigner Peter Tatchell said that we need more evidence on Khelif as to her gender and levels of testosterone. This chaotic situation would never have occurred many years ago. It has all come about because of the woke movement and the laudable desire to be inclusive.

The International Olympic Committee no longer recognises the IBA because of links with Russia so it runs the boxing competition in Paris itself.

And because of a keen desire for inclusivity, they decided to allow Imane Khelif to box but the argument from people like JK Rowling and Judy Murray, is that they should not be allowed to box in women's events. It's unfair competition.

And what we have here, is a debacle, a farce. Both fighters are harmed by this event. Imane Khelif will be examined and criticised as will the Algerian government I suspect because they supported her and promoted her to help her win a medal for the country. 

And of course Angela Carini now has a very strong platform and voice upon which to decry the current policy of allowing what, respectfully, appears to have been a fight between a person who was born biologically a man i.e. with XY chromosomes and a woman with XX chromosomes. This sort of farce should not be allowed to happen in the interests of the physical safety of the woman and the mental health of the person with XY chromosomes.

Of course, I'm talking about biological sex. I'm totally for the concept of people deciding their own sex according to how they feel and behave. There is a disconnect between biological sex and people feeling that they are living in a body which is of the wrong sex. I am sympathetic towards them as all people should be. But that's a different matter to a boxing match where people hit each other.

There has to be a fair fight with equal strength as governed by biological sex.

The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgio Meloni has weighed into the conversation as well. She said: "Athletes who have male genetic characteristics should not be admitted to women's competitions. And not because you want to discriminate, but to protect the right of female athletes to be able to compete on equal terms. It was not an even contest."

The video on this page is of JK Rowling calling the boxing match a disgrace. She addressed a message to Kirsty Burrows, head of the International Olympic Committee's safe sport unit, who I presume is the person who ultimately made the decision to allow Imane Khelif to fight as an Olympian.

JK Rowling said: "A young female boxer had just had everything she's worked and trained for snatched away because you allowed a male to get in the ring with her. You're a disgrace, your "safeguarding" is a joke and [the Paris Olympics] will for ever be tarnished by the brutal injustice done to Carini."

Imane Khelif was one of two boxes cleared to compete in Paris despite having been disqualified from last year's World Championships which is run by the International Boxing Association. The IBA had banned Imane Khelif from boxing in female competitions but the ICO totally ignored that and they ignored the DNA test I've referred to indicating XY chromosomes.

They were fighting in a 66 kg bout. Carini fell to her knees and sobbed after the bout was abandoned. She refused to shake the hand of her competitor. She had a nose injury and blood on her trunks. She said: "I'm heartbroken because I'm a fighter. I have always stepped into the ring with honour. And this time I couldn't do it because I couldn't fight any more. In that moment, I had to safeguard my life, I train with my brother. I've always fought against men, but I felt too much pain today. It hurt so much. I am heartbroken. I have never felt a punch like this. After the second blow, I felt extreme pain. I didn't lose, I just surrendered with maturity."

Comment: it seems to me that the ICO have been sucked into the woke movement and lost their minds. The woke movement is about inclusivity which is good and must be praised and welcomed because there's been far too much side-lining of people who do not fit into the neat stereotypes in society but this has gone too far. 

In a desire for that inclusivity they have endangered one female boxer physically, brought disrepute to the Olympics in general and to Olympics boxing in particular and also, as mentioned, made the life of Imane Khelif far more difficult. It's unfair on so many levels and wrong.

Barry McGuigan, a former world champion boxer said this about the fight:

It’s wrong, it’s unfair, and above all it’s dangerous. Angela Carini’s Olympic dreams lie in ruins because she lost to an opponent with male characteristics. It’s that simple. Who are these people making the decisions? The IOC in their comments never once used the word dangerous. This is amateur sport. These athletes empty themselves in competition. But this is not athletics. In boxing you get hit in the head as well. The situation in Paris is one catastrophic blow from tragedy. These guys at the IOC are playing God.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Forensics will be able to use cat and dog hairs to help convict criminals

NEWS AND COMMENT: This is an interesting development in the world of forensic science. Until now it's been all but impossible to use cat and dog hairs at a crime scene to help identify the criminal because (1) most cat hairs do not contain a root or it is dead resulting in almost no nuclear DNA sequence and (2) domestic cats have a very small number of ancient ancestors resulting in very similar DNA and therefore it is impossible to separate one from another using, as I understand it, nuclear DNA.

However, a new method of screening uses every part of the mitochondrial DNA which enables the forensic scientist to detect tiny differences and in doing so they will be able to link a domestic cat that lives with the alleged criminal. This will help to convicted criminals.

Obviously, not all criminals live with a domestic cat but in the UK, you will find a domestic cat in 26% of the households. And in those homes, there is invariably a pile of cat and dog hair. It is one of the great bugbears of many pet owners: getting rid of it!

Now it appears that forensic scientists can actually use it and as I understand it, it works like this. The criminal lives with a cat or dog. The criminal commits a crime and leaves behind at the crime scene some cat/dog hairs that have come off his clothes and which are deposited onto the victim or other objects at the crime scene. These are collected and analysed linking the criminal with the crime scene.

Although mitochondrial DNA is less variable than nuclear DNA there is just a 3% chance that two cats share the same genetics in this regard. It will be another tool to use to help pin down the criminal.

And so, forensics will now be able to use those hairs to help convict an alleged criminal. Mark Jobling, Prof of genetics at Leicester University and the co-author of the study said that, "In criminal cases where there is no DNA available to test, pet hair is a valuable source of linking evidence, and our method makes it much more powerful. The same approach could also be applied to other species, and particularly dogs."

The other co-author of the study, Dr. Jon Wetton, also of Leicester University's Department of Genetics and Genome Biology, added that, "If the police have a case where there are cat hairs but no human DNA to link a suspect with a crime it is now likely that, using our approach, we would be able to exclude the great majority of cats as the source and demonstrate a stronger link to the suspect's cat. The approach could be applied to other species, dogs being the most relevant as their hairs are also frequently found on clothing."

The study is published online on the Forensic Science International Genetics website. The abstract (summary) in an earlier study of 2014 states that "Mitochondria DNA is often the only option for DNA analysis of shed hair."

And in that 2014 study the scientists add that analysis of mitochondrial DNA has been accepted in US criminal courts since 1996 which was the date of a murder trial concerning Henry L Polk Jnr. in Mississippi. This was the first legal proceedings in America where cat mitochondrial DNA analysis was produced as evidence.

Initially the court deemed it inadmissible but once the judge had heard the arguments it became admissible.

Mitochondrial DNA versus nuclear DNA

Mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA differs in the following ways:

• Mitochondrial DNA is inherited only from the mother while nuclear DNA is inherited from both parents.
• Mitochondrial DNA is circular and smaller in size. Nuclear DNA is larger in size and linear.
• Mitochondrial DNA replicates separately from the nuclear DNA and encodes for proteins that work only for the mitochondria. Conversely, nuclear DNA encodes for proteins that work for the entire cell.
• Finally, nuclear DNA is found in the cell nucleus while mitochondrial DNA is found in the mitochondria (source Bing AI).

Note: the source of this post is The Telegraph newspaper on MSN. I can't find the study online at this time to allow me to provide a link to it.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

FAKE! DNA evidence to prove that big cats prowl British countryside!?

The British news media, at the moment (mid-May 2023), are stating that DNA evidence from a black hair strand caught on a barbed wire fence following a sheep attack has offered "definitive proof" that big cats are roaming the British countryside. Don't believe it. This is fake in my view but I stress this is my opinion.

The picture in the circle is a stock image from Alamy of a genuine black big cat (melanistic) while the blurry one is of a domestic cat crossing a field! Image: LBC.

There is a band of people in Britain who have been trying to prove that there are big cats - normally black panthers - roaming around the British countryside surreptitiously and have been for decades.

My suggestion (allegation) is that one of these band of brothers has got hold of a black hair strand from a melanistic jaguar i.e. black panther from a zoo because they have a friend working in the zoo and they have placed this black hair on a barbed wire fence and then commissioned a laboratory to do a DNA test on it. They've worked with the documentary film maker to do this (see below).

That I think is a very fair allegation because there is simply no evidence whatsoever to prove that there are big cats in the British countryside. People have been taking photographs and videos of big cats for decades and they are always fuzzy images and the cats are always domestic cats on analysis.

You have to have an inordinate amount of faith to believe what these big cat conspiracists want us to believe.

The LBC website say that this is a "shocking revelation" (LOL). It comes after a documentary film maker spent years investigating sightings across the country they say.

This mysterious black feline hair strand was recovered from a farm in Gloucestershire where there has been some unusual predatory activity. And there is apparently video footage of a large black animal in the area. They mean a domestic cat.

The picture above published on the LBC website shows a black panther - a genuine black big cat - but it is a stock photograph.

Matthew Everett from Dragonfly Films said:

The DNA was from hairs caught on a barbwire fence where there had been some unusual predatory activity.

"It's taken five years for the production team to find such evidence and film its journey from collection to analysis.

"People in Gloucestershire and Britain have described what appear to be black leopards for decades. So, a leopard DNA result from a black hair sample is unsurprising.

"This is not the first such DNA result and is unlikely to be the last.

"There is a great deal of 'secondary evidence' for these cats, such as consistent witness reports, but hard evidence like DNA is hard to get, so the contribution from this documentary is very helpful.

"Collecting such evidence from local people, farmers and landowners is essential - Citizen Science like this will hopefully help us learn more about the Bagheera type big cats which may be quietly naturalising here."

Dragonfly Films are looking into broadcast options for the documentary film. I will look forward to seeing it. But I do not believe a shred of this. It is an attempt to make an interesting film based upon a topic which has fascinated millions of people for a very long time and upon which the news media depend when real news becomes quiet.

All Scottish wildcats and kittens should be DNA tested for purebred status

NEWS AND OPINION: There is a nice story about Scottish wildcats today reported by the Daily Record. It concerns three Scottish wildcat kittens at the Five Sisters Zoo in West Calder, near Livingston. On their first medical they discovered that they have two boys and one girl. They look very much like Scottish wildcats with their tabby coats and slightly fierce appearance which is exactly the way you want it. The photograph on this page is from the Daily Record. There next job is to name them and they are looking for suggestions on their Facebook page.

Scottish wildcat kitten at his first medical. Photo: Five Sisters Zoo, via the Daily Record.

The report states that there are an estimated 35 Scottish wildcat in the wild in Scotland and that they are 50 times rarer than a giant panda. They may actually be rarer than that. In fact, they may no longer exist in purebred form. There's been so much interbreeding between domestic and feral cats and Scottish wildcats that it is plausible to argue that there are no purebred Scottish wildcats left in captivity or in the wild.

I don't know if any wildcats in zoos are purebred, such as these three darling kittens. I think that zoos should confirm to the public that they are genuine Scottish wildcats with no dilution of their DNA through crossbreeding with non-purebred Scottish wildcats.

Where a wild cat becomes extinct or is becoming extinct through interbreeding with other species of cat, it is beholden upon zookeepers who are in the business of conservation, they state, to make sure that they are caring for the genuine item and not a hybrid. For all I know these beautiful kittens may be hybrids and if they are you can't call them Scottish wildcats. One issue is that the appearance of a Scottish wildcat hybrid is very similar to the genuine article.

CLICK FOR PAGES ON THE EUROPEAN WILDCAT

I don't want to be too negative because it's a nice story but I've seen quite a lot of estimates as to the number of Scottish wildcats left in the wild over the years and they are just that: estimates. This leads me to believe that there may be none left which is a stark realisation.

Although people refer to this species of wild cat as a "Scottish wildcat" it is possibly or probably fairer to call this cat a European wildcat. I don't know whether it is true that there is a subspecies of wildcat called the Scottish wildcat. 

Also, please note that I use the word "wildcat" and the phrase "wild cat" for a specific reason. The phrase "wild cat" refers to any individual cat of any wild cat species whereas the word "wildcat" in my opinion refers to the species which is the 'wildcat'. It is complicated but I'm being particular about this.

Five Female Wildcats Are the Ancestors of All Today's Domestic and Feral Cats

It seems extraordinary but based upon DNA research five female North African wildcats (felis silvestris lybica) are the ancestors of the entire world's approximate 500,000,000 house cats.  To reiterate; the research tells us is that all of today's domestic cats come from just these 5 female North African wildcats.  

The researchers concluded that five females of this species of wildcat made the transition from being wild to being semi-domesticated within settlements where they were safe from predators and where they had a ready supply of rodents as prey which infested the settlers' homes and granaries.

As all the feral cats in the world today come from domestic cats then we have to say that all of the domestic, stray and feral cats on the planet today are descended from five female cats of the species felis silvestris lybica.

The research was carried out by Carlos Driscoll of the US National Cancer Institute and colleagues including David MacDonald of Oxford University. They spent more than 6 years analysing the DNA of wildcats,  purebred cats and house cats.

They discovered that the DNA of all house cats (including of course purebred cats) fall within the DNA cluster of the Near Eastern wild cat.  This made this subspecies of wildcat the ancestor of the domestic cat.

Source: NY Times June 29th 2007. The photo is of my tabby cat in whom you can see the North African wildcat ancestor!