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TracingAncestry,ResearchersProduceaGenetic
HumanMixingEvents
ByNICHOLASWADE

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FEB.13,2014

Theriseandfallofempires,themarchofarmies,theflowoftraderoutes,
thepracticeofslaveryalltheseeventshaveledtoamixingofpopulations
aroundtheworld.Suchepisodeshaveleftarecordinthehumangenome,
butonethathassofarbeentoocomplextodecipheronaglobalscale.
Now,geneticistsapplyingnewstatisticalapproacheshavetakenafirstshot
atbothidentifyinganddatingthemajorpopulationmixtureeventsofthe
last4,000years,withthegoalofprovidinganewsourceofinformationfor
historians.
Someofthehundredorsomajormixingeventstheydescribehaveplausible
historicalexplanations,whilemanyothersremaintobeaccountedfor.For
instance,manypopulationsofthesouthernMediterraneanandMiddleEast
havesegmentsofAfricanoriginintheirgenomesthatwereinsertedattimes
betweenA.D.650and1900,accordingtothegeneticistscalculations.This
couldreflecttheactivityoftheArabslavetrade,whichoriginatedinthe
seventhcentury,andtheabsorptionofslavesintotheirhostpopulations.
ThelowestamountofAfricanadmixtureoccursintheDruse,areligious
groupoftheMiddleEastthatprohibitedslaveryandhasbeenclosedto
convertssinceA.D.1043.
AnothermixingeventistheinjectionofEuropeantypeDNAintothe
Kalash,apeopleofPakistan,atsometimebetween990and210B.C.This
couldreflecttheinvasionofIndiabyAlexandertheGreatin326B.C.The
KalashclaimtobedescendedfromAlexanderssoldiers,asdoseveralother
groupsintheregion.
ThegeneticatlasofhumanmixingeventswaspublishedonThursdayinthe
journalSciencebyateamledbySimonMyersofOxfordUniversity,Garrett
HellenthalofUniversityCollegeLondonandDanielFalushoftheMax
PlanckInstituteforEvolutionaryAnthropologyinLeipzig,Germany.Having
sampledgenomesfromaroundtheworld,theyfoundtheycoulddetect
about95distinguishablepopulations.
Thoughallhumanshavethesamesetofgenes,theirgenomesarestudded
withmutations,whicharedifferencesinthesequenceofDNAunitsinthe
genome.Thesemutationsoccurinpatternsbecausewholesetsofmutations
arepasseddownfromparenttochildandhencewillbecommonina
particularpopulation.Basedonthesepatterns,geneticistscanscana
personsgenomeandassigntheancestryofeachsegmenttoaparticular
raceorpopulation.

GeneticMixing

Researchershavefoundgeneticevidenceforhundredsofexamplesofthelargescalemixingofhumanpopulationsinthepast4,000

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TracingAncestry,ResearchersProduceaGeneticAtlasofHumanMixingEventsNYTimes.com
Scottish

Lithuanian

Welsh
Lezgin
Georgian
Palestinian
Bedouin Druse
Parentsfrom
twopopulations

Child

Grand
child

Modern
population

Childreninheritonesetofchromosomesfromeachparent,andin
latergenerationsthatDNAiscutintosmallerandsmallerchunks.
Bymeasuringtheaveragesizeofthechunks,researchersare
abletoestimatehowmanygenerationshavepassedsincethe
ancestralpopulationsweremixed.

Balochi
Makrani
Indian
Jew

TheKalashpeopleofPakistanwerefoundtohavechunks
ancientEuropeanpopulation.Statisticalanalysissuggests
before210B.C.,possiblyfromthearmyofAlexandertheG

Source:Science
ByTheNewYorkTimes

TheteamledbyDr.Myershasdevelopedastatisticaltechniquefor
identifyingthechromosomalsegmentswithparticularprecision.This
enablesthemtoperformasecondfeat,thatofassigningadatetotheoneor
moremixingeventsthathaveaffectedapopulation.
Thedatingsystemisbasedonmeasuringthelengthofchromosome
segmentsofaparticularancestrythatoccurinapopulation.Whenpeopleof
twodifferentpopulationsintermarry,theirchildrensgenomescarrylarge
chunksofDNAofoneparentsancestryinterspersedwithlargechunksfrom
theothers.
Ineachsuccessivegeneration,theaveragesizeofthechunksbecomes
smallerbecausewhenDNAisswappedbetweentheparentsgenomesin
makingtheeggsorsperm,thecutsneededtogeneratetheswappedsections
aremadeindifferentplaces.Therefore,fromtheaveragesizeofthechunks
inapersonsgenome,thegeneticistscancalculatethenumberof
generationssincethemixingevent.
Weareamongthefirsttotrytodateancestryevents,andwehavemore
abilitytodeterminethesourcepopulations,Dr.Myerssaid.
Oneofthemostwidespreadeventshisgrouphasdetectedistheinjectionof
MongolancestryintopopulationswithintheMongolempire,suchasthe
HazaraofAfghanistanandtheUighurTurksofCentralAsia.Theevent
occurred22generationsago,accordingtogeneticdating,whichcorresponds
tothebeginningofthe14thcentury,fittingwellwiththeperiodofthe
Mongolempire.
Inanotherexample,theEuropeancolonizationofAmericaisrecordedinthe
genomesoftheMayaandPimaIndians.AndCambodiangenomesmarkthe
falloftheKhmerempireintheformofancestralDNAfromtheinvadingTai
people.
Dr.MyersandhiscolleagueshavedetectedEuropeanancestrythatentered
theTupeopleofcentralChinabetweenthe11thand14thcenturiesthis,
theysurmise,couldbefromtraderstravelingtheSilkRoad.Theyfind
amongNorthernItaliansaninsertionofMiddleEasternDNAthatoccurred
between776B.C.andA.D.550,andmayrepresenttheEtruscans,a
mysteriouspeoplesaidbytheancientGreekhistorianHerodotustohave
emigratedfromLydiainTurkey.
TheMyersgrouphasposteditsresultsonawebpagethatrecordsthe
degreeofadmixtureineachpopulation.TheEnglish,however,knowntobe
arichmedleyofCeltswithinvaderssuchastheAngles,Saxons,Jutes,
DanesandNorwegians,carrythenotationNostrongevidenceof
admixture.Dr.Myerssaidhismethodcannotyetdetectgeneticmixing

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TracingAncestry,ResearchersProduceaGeneticAtlasofHumanMixingEventsNYTimes.com

betweenverysimilarpopulations,aswasthecasewiththeEnglishandtheir
invadersfromScandinaviaandNorthernGermany.Hesaidhehopedto
distinguishallthesegroupsinaseparateprojectonBritishancestry.
Dr.Hellenthalsaid,Werefairlyconfidentthatincreasingoursamplesize
willhelpusfollowlocalmigrations.
JohnNovembre,ageneticistattheUniversityofChicago,describedthenew
geneticatlasasalandmarkstudybecauseofitsscaleandthefactthatthe
authorshadbeenabletoextractcomplexsignaturesfromthedata.The
detailedhistoricalinterpretationsmayneedfurtherquestioningand
testing,hesaid.
Dr.MyersandDr.Hellenthalsaidthattheyhopedhistorianswouldfind
theirworkuseful,butthattheyhadnotcollaboratedwithhistorians.
Insomesensewedontwanttotalktohistorians,Dr.Falushsaid.Theres
agreatvirtueinbeingobjective:Youputthedatainandgetthehistoryout.
WedothinkthisisawayofreconstructinghistorybyjustusingDNA.
AversionofthisarticleappearsinprintonFebruary14,2014,onpageA10oftheNewYorkeditionwiththe
headline:TracingAncestry,ResearchersProduceaGeneticAtlasofHumanMixingEvents.
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