Asian population largely of Southeast Asian origin: study
12 Dec 2009
A study on human genetic diversity in Asia shows that Southeast Asia was the major geographic source of East Asian and North Asian populations. It suggests that there was one major inflow of human migration into Asia from Southeast Asia, rather than multiple inflows from both southern and northern routes as understood before.
Scientists from the Human Genome Organisation's (HUGO) Pan-Asian SNP Consortium have mapped human genetic diversity in Asia for the first time. A group of 90 scientists from the SNP Consortium also traced the genetic origins of Asian populations.
Disclosing this at a press conference in New Delhi, S K Bramachari, director-general of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), said the findings were also published online in a report in the journal `Science' today.
He said the human genetic mapping of Asia has important implications, especially in the further understanding of migratory patterns in human history and for the study of genetics and diseases.
The study, conducted within and between the different populations in the Asian continent, showed that genetic ancestry was highly correlated with ethnic and linguistic groups.
The team, which included researchers from 10 Asian countries as well as investigators from the US, used microarrays to map the genetics of 73 Asian populations.
