DNA identifies Arctic sailors lost for 178 years
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In Canada’s Arctic, scientists identified the remains of four sailors who disappeared in 1845 as part of the Franklin expedition.
Sir John Franklin led 129 men from England aboard the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror to find a route through the Arctic, the Northwest Passage, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Both ships became trapped in ice near King William Island, in the territory of Nunavut, and the crew attempted to continue their journey by land, but all perished.
For decades, researchers searched for information about the failed expedition and discovered four sets of remains, but lacked a way to identify them. Researchers at the University of Waterloo used DNA analysis and samples from living descendants to name William Orren, David Young, John Bridgens, and Harry Peglar. The team extracted DNA from bones and teeth and matched it with genetic information from relatives to confirm their identities.
Three of the sailors, Orren, Young, and Bridgens, died at Erebus Bay on the coast of King William Island. While the exact causes of death remain unknown, factors like starvation, disease, extreme cold, and exhaustion likely contributed. The HMS Erebus was found in 2014 and the HMS Terror in 2016, but identifying remains proved difficult until recent advances in genetic technology.
