Indigenous Amerindian genetics
Encyclopedia
Genetic history of indigenous peoples of the Americas primarily focus on Human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups
and Human mitochondrial DNA haplogroups
. Autosomal
"atDNA" markers are also used, but differ from mtDNA or Y-DNA in that they overlap significantly. The genetic pattern indicates Indigenous Amerindians
experienced two very distinctive genetic episodes; first with the initial peopling of the Americas
, and secondly with European colonization of the Americas
. The former is the determinant factor for the number of gene
lineages, zygosity
mutations and founding haplotype
s present in today's Indigenous Amerindian populations
.
Human settlement of the New World
occurred in stages from the Bering sea coast line
, with an initial layover on Beringia for the small founding population
. The micro-satellite diversity and distributions of the Y lineage specific to South America
indicates that certain Amerindian populations have been isolated since the initial colonization of the region. The Na-Dené, Inuit
and Indigenous Alaskan
populations exhibit haplogroup Q (Y-DNA)
; however, they are distinct from other indigenous Amerindians with various mtDNA and atDNA mutations. This suggests that the peoples who first settled the northern extremes of North America
and Greenland
derived from later migrant populations than those who penetrated further south in the Americas. Linguists and biologist
s have reached a similar conclusion based on analysis of Amerindian language groups
and ABO blood group system
distributions.
The X and Y human chromosomes are thought to have originated from a pair of identical chromosomes (300 – 166 million years ago), termed Allosome
, when an ancient ancestral mammal
developed an allelic variation, a so-called 'sex locus
' – simply possessing this allele
caused the organism to be male. The chromosome with this allele became the Y chromosome
, while the other member of the pair became the X chromosome
. Over time, genes which were beneficial for males and harmful to (or had no effect on) females developed specifically on the Y chromosome, or were acquired through the process of translocation
.
The Y chromosome is passed down exclusively from father to son, all male humans (Y chromosomes) today trace back to a single prehistoric father termed "Y chromosomal Adam" originating from Africa. The Y chromosome spans about 60 million base pairs (the building blocks of DNA
) and represents about 2 percent of the total DNA in all human cell
s. The original "Y chromosomal Adam" DNA sequencing has mutated rarely over the 20,000 generations, but each time a new mutation occurs there is a new branch in a haplogroup resulting in a new subclade
(single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)). MtDNA mutations are also passed down relatively unchanged from generation to generation; so all humans share the same mtDNA-types, the logical extension of this is that all humans ultimately trace back to one woman, who is commonly referred to as Mitochondrial Eve
. Both females and males inherit their Mitochondrial DNA
(mtDNA) only from their mother. This line of biological inheritance, therefore, stops with each male. Consequently, Y-DNA is more commonly used by the general public for tracing genetic heritage
.
An autosome
(atDNA) is a chromosome that is not a sex chromosome – that is to say there are an equal number of copies of the chromosome in males and females. Autosomal DNA testing is generally used to determine the "genetic percentages" of a person's ancestry from particular continents/regions or to identify the countries and "tribes" of origin on an overall basis. Genetic admixture
tests arrive at these percentages by examining (SNP), which are locations on the DNA where one nucleotide has "mutated" or "switched" to a different nucleotide
. One way to examine the support for particular colonization routes within the American landmass is to determine if a closer relationship between zygosity
and geography is observed when “effective” geographic distances are computed along these routes, rather than along shortest-distance paths.
The Y chromosome consortium
has established a system of defining Y-DNA haplogroups by letters A through to T, with further subdivisions using numbers and lower case letters.
(mutational name) is the defining (SNP) of Haplogroup Q (Y-DNA)
(phylogenetic name). Within the Q clade, there are 14 haplogroups marked by 17 SNPs.2009 In Eurasia
haplogroup Q is found among Siberian populations
, such as the modern Chukchi
and Koryak
peoples. In particular two populations exhibit large concentrations of the Q-M242 mutation, the Kets
(93.8%) and the Selkups (66.4%). The Kets are thought to be the only survivors of ancient nomads
living in Siberia. Their population size is very small; there are fewer than 1,500 Kets in Russia
.2002 The Selkups have a slightly larger population size than the Kets, with approximately 4,250 individuals. 2002 Starting the Paleo-Indians period, a migration to the Americas across the Bering Strait
(Beringia), by a small population carrying the Q-M242 mutation took place. A member of this initial population underwent a mutation, which defines its descendant population, known by the Q-M3 (SNP) mutation. These descendants migrated all over the Americas.
or western Alaskan interior
. The Beringia land mass began submerging, cutting off land routes.
Since the discovery of Q-M3, several subclade
s of M3-bearing populations have been discovered. An example is in South America
, where some populations have a high prevalence of (SNP) M19 which defines subclade Q1a3a1a. M19 has been detected in (59%) of Amazonian Ticuna men and in (10%) of Wayuu
men. Subclade M19 appears to be unique to South American Indigenous people
s, arising 5,000 to 10,000 years ago. This suggests that population isolation and perhaps even the establishment of tribal groups began soon after migration into the South American areas.
is the second most predominant Y haplotype found among indigenous Amerindians after Q (Y-DNA). The distribution of R1 is believed to be associated with the re-settlement of Eurasia following the last glacial maximum
. One theory put forth is that it entered the Americas with the initial founding population. A second theory is that it was introduced during European colonization. R1 is very common throughout all of Eurasia except East Asia
and Southeast Asia
. R1 (M137) is found predominantly in North American groups like the Ojibwe (79%), Chipewyan
(62%), Seminole
(50%), Cherokee
(47%), Dogrib (40%) and Papago
(38%). The principal-component analysis suggests a close genetic relatedness between some North American Amerindians (the Chipewyan and the Cheyenne) and certain populations of central/southern Siberia
(particularly the Kets, Yakuts
, Selkups, and Altays), at the resolution of major Y-chromosome haplogroups. This pattern agrees with the distribution of mtDNA haplogroup X
, which is found in North America, is absent from eastern Siberia, but is present in the Altais of southern central Siberia.
. Haplogroup C3 is the most widespread and frequently occurring branch of the greater (Y-DNA) haplogroup C
. Haplogroup C3 decedent C3b (P39) is commonly found in today's Na-Dené speakers
with the highest frequency found among the Athabaskan's
at 42%. This distinct and isolated branch C3b (P39) includes almost all the Haplogroup C3 Y-chromosomes found among all indigenous peoples of the Americas. The Na-Dené groups are also unusual among indigenous peoples of the Americas in having a relatively high frequency of Q-M242 (25%). This indicates that the Na-Dené migration occurred from the Russian Far East
after the initial Paleo-Indian colonization, but prior to modern Inuit
, Inupiat and Yupik expansions.
is defined as the woman who was the matrilineal most recent common ancestor
for all living
humans. Mitochondrial Eve is generally estimated to have lived around 200,000 years ago. Mitochondrial Eve is the most recent common matrilineal
ancestor, not the most recent common ancestor.
When studying human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups, the results indicate that Indigenous Amerindian haplogroups, including haplogroup X
, are part of a single founding east Asian population. It also indicates that the distribution of mtDNA haplogroups and the levels of sequence divergence among linguistically similar groups
were the result of multiple preceding migrations from Bering Strait
s populations. All Indigenous Amerindian mtDNA can be traced back to five haplogroups, A
, B
, C
, D
and X
. More specifically, Indigenous Amerindian mtDNA belongs to sub-haplogroups that are unique to the Americas and not found in Asia or Europe: A2, B2, C1, D1, and X2a (with minor groups C4c, D2, D3, and D4h3). This suggests that 95% of Indigenous Amerindian mtDNA is descended from a minimal genetic founding female population, comprising sub-haplogroups A2, B2, C1b, C1c, C1d, and D1. The remaining 5% is composed of the X2a, D2, D3, C4, and D4h3 sub-haplogroups.
X is one of the five mtDNA haplogroups found in Indigenous Amerindian peoples. Unlike the four main American mtDNA haplogroups (A, B, C and D), X is not at all strongly associated with east Asia. Haplogroup X genetic sequences diverged about 20,000 to 30,000 years ago to give two sub-groups, X1 and X2. X2's subclade X2a occurs only at a frequency of about 3% for the total current indigenous population of the Americas. However, X2a is a major mtDNA subclade in North America, where among the Algonquian peoples
it comprises up to 25% of mtDNA types. It is also present in lower percentages to the west and south of this area — among the Sioux
(15%), the Nuu-chah-nulth (11%–13%), the Navajo
(7%), and the Yakama
(5%). Haplogroup X is more strongly present in the Near East
, the Caucasus, and Mediterranean Europe
. The predominant theory for sub-haplogroup X2a's appearance in North America is migration along with A, B, C, and D mtDNA groups, from a source in the Altai Mountains of central Asia.
Sequencing of the mitochondrial genome from Paleo-Eskimo
remains (3,500 years old) are distinct from modern Amerindians, falling within sub-haplogroup D2a1, a group observed among today's Aleutian Islanders, the Aleuts and Siberian Yupik
populations. This suggests that the colonizers of the far north and subsequently Greenland originated from later coastal populations. Then a genetic exchange in the northern extremes introduced by the Thule people
(proto-Inuit) approximately 800–1,000 years ago began. These final Pre-Columbian migrants introduced haplogroups A2a and A2b to the existing Paleo-Eskimo populations of Canada and Greenland, culminating in the modern Inuit.
d; sampled from North, Central, and South America and analyzed against similar data available from other indigenous populations
worldwide. The Amerindian populations show a lower genetic diversity
than populations from other continental regions. Observed is a decreasing genetic diversity as geographic distance from the Bering Strait occurs as well as a decreasing genetic similarity to Siberian populations from Alaska (the genetic entry point). Also observed is evidence of a higher level of diversity and lower level of population structure in western South America compared to eastern South America. There is a relative lack of differentiation between Mesoamerican and Andean
populations, a scenario that implies that coastal routes were easier for migrating peoples (more genetic contributors) to traverse in comparison with inland routes. The over-all pattern that is emerging suggests that the Americas were recently colonized by a small number of individuals (effective size of about 70), which grew by a factor of 10 over 800 – 1000 years. The data also shows that there have been genetic exchanges between Asia, the Arctic and Greenland since the initial peopling of the Americas.
s, the founder effect
, mitochondrial mutations
and genetic drift
will alter the genetic composition of isolated populations, resulting in very distinguishable mutation patterns. (i.e. Taíno
s, Fuegians
, Inuit
, Yupik and Algonquian
)
The rough overlaps between Y-DNA and mtDNA between the Americas, Circumpolar north, and Siberian indigenous populations are:
and interracial sex
and, more generally, the process of racial admixture, has its origins in prehistory. Racial mixing became widespread during Europe
an colonialism
in the Age of Discovery
. Genetic exchange between two populations reduces the genetic distance
between the populations and is measurable in DNA
patterns. During the Age of Discovery, beginning in the late 1400s CE, European explorers
sailed the oceans
, eventually reaching all the major continent
s. During this time Europeans contacted many populations, some of which had been relatively isolated for millennia
. The genetic demographic
composition of the Eastern Hemisphere has not changed significantly since the age of discovery. However, genetic demographics in the Western Hemisphere were radically altered by events following the voyages of Christopher Columbus
. The European colonization of the Americas
brought contact between peoples of Europe, Africa
and Asia and the Amerindian populations. As a result, the Americas today have significant and complex multiracial
populations. Many individuals who self-identify as one race exhibit genetic evidence of a multiracial ancestry.
The European invasion of Latin America
was initially executed by male soldiers and sailors from Iberia, Spain
and Portugal
. The new soldier-settlers fathered children with Amerindian women and later with African slaves. These mixed-race children were generally identified by the Iberian colonists as Casta
s. In the 1600s CE, the North American fur trade
brought more European men, from France
and Great Britain
, who took North Amerindian women as wives. Their children became known as Métis
or Bois-Brûlés
by the ethnic French and mixed-blood
s, half-breed
s or country-born
by the English and Scots. From the second half of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, new waves of immigrants from northern, eastern and southern Europe went to the Americas and consequently altered the demographics
. Following World War II
and subsequent worldwide migrations, the current American populations' genetic admixture can be traced to all corners of the world.
and Martha Chase
, scientists used blood proteins
to study human genetic variation. The ABO blood group system
is widely credited to have been discovered by the Austrian Karl Landsteiner
, who found three different blood types in 1900. Blood groups are inherited from both parents. The ABO blood type is controlled by a single gene
(the ABO gene
) with three allele
s: i, IA, and IB.
Research by Ludwik and Hanka Herschfeld during World War I
found that the frequencies of blood groups A,B and O differed greatly from region to region. The "O" blood type (usually resulting from the absence of both A and B alleles) is very common around the world, with a rate of 63% in all human populations. Type "O" is the primary blood type among the indigenous populations of the Americas, in-particular within Central and South America populations, with a frequency of nearly 100%. In indigenous North American populations the frequency of type "A" ranges from 16% to 82%. This suggests again that the initial Amerindians evolved from an isolated population with a minimal number of individuals.
>
s at specific locations on a person's DNA
for genetic genealogy
purposes. The test results are not meant to have any medical value; they are intended only to give genealogical information. Genealogical DNA tests generally involve comparing the results of living individuals to historic populations. The general procedure for taking a genealogical DNA test involves taking a painless cheek-scraping (also known as a buccal swab) at home and mailing the sample to a genetic genealogy laboratory for testing. The most popular ancestry tests are Y chromosome (Y-DNA) testing and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) testing which test direct-line paternal and maternal ancestry, respectively. DNA tests (autosomal DNA) for other purposes attempt, for example, to determine a person's comprehensive genetic make-up and/or ethnic origins. A man's patrilineal ancestry, or male-line ancestry, can be traced using the DNA on his Y chromosome
(Y-DNA) through Y-STR
testing. This is useful because the Y chromosome passes down almost unchanged from father to son. Results showing specific sub-Haplogroups of Q
, R1
and C3b
implies that he is, in whole or in-part, indigenous to the Americas. A person's matrilineal or mother-line ancestry can be traced using the DNA in his or her mitochondria, the mtDNA. This mtDNA is passed down by the mother unchanged, to all children. If one's mtDNA belonged to specific sub-Haplogroups of, A
, B
, C
, D
or X2a
, the implication would be that he or she is, in whole or part, indigenous to the Americas.
Documentaries about human migration in general
Human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups
In human genetics, a Human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup is a haplogroup defined by differences in the non-recombining portions of DNA from the Y chromosome ....
and Human mitochondrial DNA haplogroups
Human mitochondrial DNA haplogroups
In human genetics, a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup is a haplogroup defined by differences in human mitochondrial DNA. Haplogroups are used to represent the major branch points on the mitochondrial phylogenetic tree...
. Autosomal
Autosome
An autosome is a chromosome that is not a sex chromosome, or allosome; that is to say, there is an equal number of copies of the chromosome in males and females. For example, in humans, there are 22 pairs of autosomes. In addition to autosomes, there are sex chromosomes, to be specific: X and Y...
"atDNA" markers are also used, but differ from mtDNA or Y-DNA in that they overlap significantly. The genetic pattern indicates Indigenous Amerindians
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
experienced two very distinctive genetic episodes; first with the initial peopling of the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
, and secondly with European colonization of the Americas
European colonization of the Americas
The start of the European colonization of the Americas is typically dated to 1492. The first Europeans to reach the Americas were the Vikings during the 11th century, who established several colonies in Greenland and one short-lived settlement in present day Newfoundland...
. The former is the determinant factor for the number of gene
Gene
A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...
lineages, zygosity
Zygosity
Zygosity refers to the similarity of alleles for a trait in an organism. If both alleles are the same, the organism is homozygous for the trait. If both alleles are different, the organism is heterozygous for that trait...
mutations and founding haplotype
Haplotype
A haplotype in genetics is a combination of alleles at adjacent locations on the chromosome that are transmitted together...
s present in today's Indigenous Amerindian populations
Population history of American indigenous peoples
The population figures for Indigenous peoples in the Americas before the 1492 voyage of Christopher Columbus have proven difficult to establish and rely on archaeological data and written records from European settlers...
.
Human settlement of the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
occurred in stages from the Bering sea coast line
Bering Sea
The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves....
, with an initial layover on Beringia for the small founding population
Founder effect
In population genetics, the founder effect is the loss of genetic variation that occurs when a new population is established by a very small number of individuals from a larger population. It was first fully outlined by Ernst Mayr in 1942, using existing theoretical work by those such as Sewall...
. The micro-satellite diversity and distributions of the Y lineage specific to South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
indicates that certain Amerindian populations have been isolated since the initial colonization of the region. The Na-Dené, Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
and Indigenous Alaskan
Alaska Natives
Alaska Natives are the indigenous peoples of Alaska. They include: Aleut, Inuit, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Eyak, and a number of Northern Athabaskan cultures.-History:In 1912 the Alaska Native Brotherhood was founded...
populations exhibit haplogroup Q (Y-DNA)
Haplogroup Q (Y-DNA)
In human genetics, Haplogroup Q is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup.-Origins:Haplogroup Q is one of the two branches of haplogroup P . Haplogroup Q is believed to have arisen in Central Asia approximately 15,000 to 20,000 years ago. It has had multiple origins proposed...
; however, they are distinct from other indigenous Amerindians with various mtDNA and atDNA mutations. This suggests that the peoples who first settled the northern extremes of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
derived from later migrant populations than those who penetrated further south in the Americas. Linguists and biologist
Biologist
A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...
s have reached a similar conclusion based on analysis of Amerindian language groups
Indigenous languages of the Americas
Indigenous languages of the Americas are spoken by indigenous peoples from Alaska and Greenland to the southern tip of South America, encompassing the land masses which constitute the Americas. These indigenous languages consist of dozens of distinct language families as well as many language...
and ABO blood group system
ABO blood group system
The ABO blood group system is the most important blood type system in human blood transfusion. The associated anti-A antibodies and anti-B antibodies are usually IgM antibodies, which are usually produced in the first years of life by sensitization to environmental substances such as food,...
distributions.
Background
Allosome
An allosome is a sex chromosome that differs from an ordinary autosome in form, size, or behavior. The human sex chromosomes are a typical pair of allosomes.The x chromosome is present in the ovum, while x or y chromosomes can be present in sperm.-References:...
, when an ancient ancestral mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
developed an allelic variation, a so-called 'sex locus
Locus (genetics)
In the fields of genetics and genetic computation, a locus is the specific location of a gene or DNA sequence on a chromosome. A variant of the DNA sequence at a given locus is called an allele. The ordered list of loci known for a particular genome is called a genetic map...
' – simply possessing this allele
Allele
An allele is one of two or more forms of a gene or a genetic locus . "Allel" is an abbreviation of allelomorph. Sometimes, different alleles can result in different observable phenotypic traits, such as different pigmentation...
caused the organism to be male. The chromosome with this allele became the Y chromosome
Y chromosome
The Y chromosome is one of the two sex-determining chromosomes in most mammals, including humans. In mammals, it contains the gene SRY, which triggers testis development if present. The human Y chromosome is composed of about 60 million base pairs...
, while the other member of the pair became the X chromosome
X chromosome
The X chromosome is one of the two sex-determining chromosomes in many animal species, including mammals and is common in both males and females. It is a part of the XY sex-determination system and X0 sex-determination system...
. Over time, genes which were beneficial for males and harmful to (or had no effect on) females developed specifically on the Y chromosome, or were acquired through the process of translocation
Chromosomal translocation
In genetics, a chromosome translocation is a chromosome abnormality caused by rearrangement of parts between nonhomologous chromosomes. A gene fusion may be created when the translocation joins two otherwise separated genes, the occurrence of which is common in cancer. It is detected on...
.
The Y chromosome is passed down exclusively from father to son, all male humans (Y chromosomes) today trace back to a single prehistoric father termed "Y chromosomal Adam" originating from Africa. The Y chromosome spans about 60 million base pairs (the building blocks of DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
) and represents about 2 percent of the total DNA in all human cell
Cell type
A cell type is a distinct morphological or functional form of cell. When a cell switches state from one cell type to another, it undergoes cellular differentiation. A list of distinct cell types in the adult human body may include several hundred distinct types.-References:...
s. The original "Y chromosomal Adam" DNA sequencing has mutated rarely over the 20,000 generations, but each time a new mutation occurs there is a new branch in a haplogroup resulting in a new subclade
Subclade
In genetics, subclade is a term used to describe a subgroup of a subgenus or haplogroup. It is commonly used today in describing genealogical DNA tests of human mitochondrial DNA haplogroups and human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups....
(single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)). MtDNA mutations are also passed down relatively unchanged from generation to generation; so all humans share the same mtDNA-types, the logical extension of this is that all humans ultimately trace back to one woman, who is commonly referred to as Mitochondrial Eve
Mitochondrial Eve
In the field of human genetics, Mitochondrial Eve refers to the matrilineal "MRCA" . In other words, she was the woman from whom all living humans today descend, on their mother's side, and through the mothers of those mothers and so on, back until all lines converge on one person...
. Both females and males inherit their Mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA is the DNA located in organelles called mitochondria, structures within eukaryotic cells that convert the chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, adenosine triphosphate...
(mtDNA) only from their mother. This line of biological inheritance, therefore, stops with each male. Consequently, Y-DNA is more commonly used by the general public for tracing genetic heritage
Genealogical DNA test
A genealogical DNA test examines the nucleotides at specific locations on a person's DNA for genetic genealogy purposes. The test results are not meant to have any informative medical value and do not determine specific genetic diseases or disorders ; they are intended only to give genealogical...
.
An autosome
Autosome
An autosome is a chromosome that is not a sex chromosome, or allosome; that is to say, there is an equal number of copies of the chromosome in males and females. For example, in humans, there are 22 pairs of autosomes. In addition to autosomes, there are sex chromosomes, to be specific: X and Y...
(atDNA) is a chromosome that is not a sex chromosome – that is to say there are an equal number of copies of the chromosome in males and females. Autosomal DNA testing is generally used to determine the "genetic percentages" of a person's ancestry from particular continents/regions or to identify the countries and "tribes" of origin on an overall basis. Genetic admixture
Genetic admixture
Genetic admixture occurs when individuals from two or more previously separated populations begin interbreeding. Admixture results in the introduction of new genetic lineages into a population. It has been known to slow local adaptation by introducing foreign, unadapted genotypes...
tests arrive at these percentages by examining (SNP), which are locations on the DNA where one nucleotide has "mutated" or "switched" to a different nucleotide
Nucleotide
Nucleotides are molecules that, when joined together, make up the structural units of RNA and DNA. In addition, nucleotides participate in cellular signaling , and are incorporated into important cofactors of enzymatic reactions...
. One way to examine the support for particular colonization routes within the American landmass is to determine if a closer relationship between zygosity
Zygosity
Zygosity refers to the similarity of alleles for a trait in an organism. If both alleles are the same, the organism is homozygous for the trait. If both alleles are different, the organism is heterozygous for that trait...
and geography is observed when “effective” geographic distances are computed along these routes, rather than along shortest-distance paths.
Y-DNA
The Y chromosome consortium
Y chromosome consortium
The Y Chromosome Consortium is a collection of scientists who work toward the understanding of human Y chromosomal phylogenetics and evolution. The consortium has the following objectives: web resources that communicate information relating to the non-recombinant region of the Y-chromosome...
has established a system of defining Y-DNA haplogroups by letters A through to T, with further subdivisions using numbers and lower case letters.
Haplogroup Q
Q-M242Haplogroup Q (Y-DNA)
In human genetics, Haplogroup Q is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup.-Origins:Haplogroup Q is one of the two branches of haplogroup P . Haplogroup Q is believed to have arisen in Central Asia approximately 15,000 to 20,000 years ago. It has had multiple origins proposed...
(mutational name) is the defining (SNP) of Haplogroup Q (Y-DNA)
Haplogroup Q (Y-DNA)
In human genetics, Haplogroup Q is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup.-Origins:Haplogroup Q is one of the two branches of haplogroup P . Haplogroup Q is believed to have arisen in Central Asia approximately 15,000 to 20,000 years ago. It has had multiple origins proposed...
(phylogenetic name). Within the Q clade, there are 14 haplogroups marked by 17 SNPs.2009 In Eurasia
Eurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
haplogroup Q is found among Siberian populations
Indigenous peoples of Siberia
Including the Russian Far East, the population of Siberia numbers just above 40 million people.As a result of the 17th to 19th century Russian conquest of Siberia and the subsequent population movements during the Soviet era, the demographics of Siberia today is dominated by native speakers of...
, such as the modern Chukchi
Chukchi people
The Chukchi, or Chukchee , ) are an indigenous people inhabiting the Chukchi Peninsula and the shores of the Chukchi Sea and the Bering Sea region of the Arctic Ocean within the Russian Federation. They speak the Chukchi language...
and Koryak
Koryaks
Koryaks are an indigenous people of Kamchatka Krai in the Russian Far East, who inhabit the coastlands of the Bering Sea to the south of the Anadyr basin and the country to the immediate north of the Kamchatka Peninsula, the southernmost limit of their range being Tigilsk. They are akin to the...
peoples. In particular two populations exhibit large concentrations of the Q-M242 mutation, the Kets
Ket people
Kets are a Siberian people who speak the Ket language. In Imperial Russia they were called Ostyaks, without differentiating them from several other Siberian peoples. Later they became known as Yenisey ostyaks, because they lived in the middle and lower basin of the Yenisei River in the Krasnoyarsk...
(93.8%) and the Selkups (66.4%). The Kets are thought to be the only survivors of ancient nomads
Hunter-gatherer
A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...
living in Siberia. Their population size is very small; there are fewer than 1,500 Kets in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.2002 The Selkups have a slightly larger population size than the Kets, with approximately 4,250 individuals. 2002 Starting the Paleo-Indians period, a migration to the Americas across the Bering Strait
Bering Strait
The Bering Strait , known to natives as Imakpik, is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, USA, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65°40'N,...
(Beringia), by a small population carrying the Q-M242 mutation took place. A member of this initial population underwent a mutation, which defines its descendant population, known by the Q-M3 (SNP) mutation. These descendants migrated all over the Americas.
Q subclades Q1a3a and Q1a3a1a
Haplogroup Q1a3a (Y-DNA) and/or Q-M3 is defined by the presence of the rs3894 (M3) (SNP). The Q-M3 mutation is roughly 15,000 years old as the initial migration of Paleo-Indians into the Americas occurred. Q-M3 is the predominant haplotype in the Americas at a rate of 83% in South American populations, 50% in the Na-Dené populations, and in North American Eskimo-Aleut populations at about 46%. With minimal back-migration of Q-M3 in Eurasia, the mutation likely evolved in east-Beringia, or more specifically the Seward PeninsulaSeward Peninsula
The Seward Peninsula is a large peninsula on the western coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. It projects about into the Bering Sea between Norton Sound, the Bering Strait, the Chukchi Sea, and Kotzebue Sound, just below the Arctic Circle...
or western Alaskan interior
Alaska Interior
The Alaska Interior covers most of the U.S. state's territory. It is largely wilderness. Mountains include Mount McKinley in the Alaska Range, the Wrangell Mountains, and the Ray Mountains....
. The Beringia land mass began submerging, cutting off land routes.
Since the discovery of Q-M3, several subclade
Subclade
In genetics, subclade is a term used to describe a subgroup of a subgenus or haplogroup. It is commonly used today in describing genealogical DNA tests of human mitochondrial DNA haplogroups and human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups....
s of M3-bearing populations have been discovered. An example is in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, where some populations have a high prevalence of (SNP) M19 which defines subclade Q1a3a1a. M19 has been detected in (59%) of Amazonian Ticuna men and in (10%) of Wayuu
Wayuu
Wayuu is an Amerindian ethnic group of the La Guajira Peninsula in northern Colombia and northwest Venezuela. They are part of the Maipurean language family.- Geography :...
men. Subclade M19 appears to be unique to South American Indigenous people
South American Indigenous people
The following is a partial list of cultures related to South American Indigenous peoples.-----See also :*Archaeology of the Americas*List of pre-Columbian cultures*Metallurgy in pre-Columbian America*Pre-Columbian South America*Pre-Inca cultures...
s, arising 5,000 to 10,000 years ago. This suggests that population isolation and perhaps even the establishment of tribal groups began soon after migration into the South American areas.
Haplogroup R1
Haplogroup R1 (Y-DNA)Haplogroup R1 (Y-DNA)
In human genetics, Haplogroup R1 is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup, a subgroup of haplogroup R, associated with the M173 mutation. It is dominated in practice by two very common Eurasian clades, R1a and R1b, which together are found all over Eurasia except in Southeast Asia and East Asia...
is the second most predominant Y haplotype found among indigenous Amerindians after Q (Y-DNA). The distribution of R1 is believed to be associated with the re-settlement of Eurasia following the last glacial maximum
Wisconsin glaciation
The last glacial period was the most recent glacial period within the current ice age occurring during the last years of the Pleistocene, from approximately 110,000 to 10,000 years ago....
. One theory put forth is that it entered the Americas with the initial founding population. A second theory is that it was introduced during European colonization. R1 is very common throughout all of Eurasia except East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
and Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
. R1 (M137) is found predominantly in North American groups like the Ojibwe (79%), Chipewyan
Chipewyan
The Chipewyan are a Dene Aboriginal people in Canada, whose ancestors were the Taltheilei...
(62%), Seminole
Seminole
The Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida, who now reside primarily in that state and Oklahoma. The Seminole nation emerged in a process of ethnogenesis out of groups of Native Americans, most significantly Creeks from what is now Georgia and Alabama, who settled in Florida in...
(50%), Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
(47%), Dogrib (40%) and Papago
Tohono O'odham
The Tohono O'odham are a group of Native American people who reside primarily in the Sonoran Desert of the southeastern Arizona and northwest Mexico...
(38%). The principal-component analysis suggests a close genetic relatedness between some North American Amerindians (the Chipewyan and the Cheyenne) and certain populations of central/southern Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
(particularly the Kets, Yakuts
Yakuts
Yakuts , are a Turkic people associated with the Sakha Republic.The Yakut or Sakha language belongs to the Northern branch of the Turkic family of languages....
, Selkups, and Altays), at the resolution of major Y-chromosome haplogroups. This pattern agrees with the distribution of mtDNA haplogroup X
Haplogroup X (mtDNA)
In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup X is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup. It has a widespread global distribution but no major regions of distinct localization.-Origin:...
, which is found in North America, is absent from eastern Siberia, but is present in the Altais of southern central Siberia.
Haplogroup C3b
Haplogroup C3 (M217, P44) is mainly found in indigenous Siberians, Mongolians and Oceanic populationsIndigenous peoples of Oceania
The indigenous peoples of Oceania are those peoples identified as indigenous peoples, as per the modern global definition of the term.Many of the present-day Pacific Island nations in the Oceania region were originally populated by Polynesian, Melanesian and Micronesian peoples over the course of...
. Haplogroup C3 is the most widespread and frequently occurring branch of the greater (Y-DNA) haplogroup C
Haplogroup C (Y-DNA)
In human genetics, Haplogroup C is a Y-chromosome haplogroup, defined by UEPs M130/RPS4Y711, M216, P184, P255, and P260, which are all SNP mutations. It is a sibling clade of Haplogroup F, within the more ancient grouping of Haplogroup CF...
. Haplogroup C3 decedent C3b (P39) is commonly found in today's Na-Dené speakers
Na-Dené languages
Na-Dene is a Native American language family which includes at least the Athabaskan languages, Eyak, and Tlingit languages. An inclusion of Haida is controversial....
with the highest frequency found among the Athabaskan's
Athabaskan languages
Athabaskan or Athabascan is a large group of indigenous peoples of North America, located in two main Southern and Northern groups in western North America, and of their language family...
at 42%. This distinct and isolated branch C3b (P39) includes almost all the Haplogroup C3 Y-chromosomes found among all indigenous peoples of the Americas. The Na-Dené groups are also unusual among indigenous peoples of the Americas in having a relatively high frequency of Q-M242 (25%). This indicates that the Na-Dené migration occurred from the Russian Far East
Russian Far East
Russian Far East is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East, i.e., extreme east parts of Russia, between Lake Baikal in Eastern Siberia and the Pacific Ocean...
after the initial Paleo-Indian colonization, but prior to modern Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
, Inupiat and Yupik expansions.
mtDNA
Mitochondrial EveMitochondrial Eve
In the field of human genetics, Mitochondrial Eve refers to the matrilineal "MRCA" . In other words, she was the woman from whom all living humans today descend, on their mother's side, and through the mothers of those mothers and so on, back until all lines converge on one person...
is defined as the woman who was the matrilineal most recent common ancestor
Most recent common ancestor
In genetics, the most recent common ancestor of any set of organisms is the most recent individual from which all organisms in the group are directly descended...
for all living
World population
The world population is the total number of living humans on the planet Earth. As of today, it is estimated to be billion by the United States Census Bureau...
humans. Mitochondrial Eve is generally estimated to have lived around 200,000 years ago. Mitochondrial Eve is the most recent common matrilineal
Matrilineality
Matrilineality is a system in which descent is traced through the mother and maternal ancestors. Matrilineality is also a societal system in which one belongs to one's matriline or mother's lineage, which can involve the inheritance of property and/or titles.A matriline is a line of descent from a...
ancestor, not the most recent common ancestor.
When studying human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups, the results indicate that Indigenous Amerindian haplogroups, including haplogroup X
Haplogroup X (mtDNA)
In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup X is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup. It has a widespread global distribution but no major regions of distinct localization.-Origin:...
, are part of a single founding east Asian population. It also indicates that the distribution of mtDNA haplogroups and the levels of sequence divergence among linguistically similar groups
Indigenous languages of the Americas
Indigenous languages of the Americas are spoken by indigenous peoples from Alaska and Greenland to the southern tip of South America, encompassing the land masses which constitute the Americas. These indigenous languages consist of dozens of distinct language families as well as many language...
were the result of multiple preceding migrations from Bering Strait
Bering Strait
The Bering Strait , known to natives as Imakpik, is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, USA, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65°40'N,...
s populations. All Indigenous Amerindian mtDNA can be traced back to five haplogroups, A
Haplogroup A (mtDNA)
In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup A is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup.-Origin:Haplogroup A is believed to have arisen in Asia some 30,000-50,000 years before present...
, B
Haplogroup B (mtDNA)
In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup B is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup.-Origin:Haplogroup B is believed to have arisen in Asia some 50,000 years before present. Its ancestral haplogroup was Haplogroup R....
, C
Haplogroup C (mtDNA)
In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup C is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup.-Origin:Haplogroup C is believed to have arisen somewhere between the Caspian Sea and Lake Baikal some 60,000 years before present. It is a descendant of the haplogroup M.-Distribution:Haplogroup C is found in...
, D
Haplogroup D (mtDNA)
In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup D is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup.-Origin:Haplogroup D is believed to have arisen in Asia some 48,000 years before present. It is a descendant haplogroup of haplogroup M.-Distribution:...
and X
Haplogroup X (mtDNA)
In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup X is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup. It has a widespread global distribution but no major regions of distinct localization.-Origin:...
. More specifically, Indigenous Amerindian mtDNA belongs to sub-haplogroups that are unique to the Americas and not found in Asia or Europe: A2, B2, C1, D1, and X2a (with minor groups C4c, D2, D3, and D4h3). This suggests that 95% of Indigenous Amerindian mtDNA is descended from a minimal genetic founding female population, comprising sub-haplogroups A2, B2, C1b, C1c, C1d, and D1. The remaining 5% is composed of the X2a, D2, D3, C4, and D4h3 sub-haplogroups.
X is one of the five mtDNA haplogroups found in Indigenous Amerindian peoples. Unlike the four main American mtDNA haplogroups (A, B, C and D), X is not at all strongly associated with east Asia. Haplogroup X genetic sequences diverged about 20,000 to 30,000 years ago to give two sub-groups, X1 and X2. X2's subclade X2a occurs only at a frequency of about 3% for the total current indigenous population of the Americas. However, X2a is a major mtDNA subclade in North America, where among the Algonquian peoples
Algonquian peoples
The Algonquian are one of the most populous and widespread North American native language groups, with tribes originally numbering in the hundreds. Today hundreds of thousands of individuals identify with various Algonquian peoples...
it comprises up to 25% of mtDNA types. It is also present in lower percentages to the west and south of this area — among the Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
(15%), the Nuu-chah-nulth (11%–13%), the Navajo
Navajo people
The Navajo of the Southwestern United States are the largest single federally recognized tribe of the United States of America. The Navajo Nation has 300,048 enrolled tribal members. The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo Indian reservation in the...
(7%), and the Yakama
Yakama
The Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, or simply Yakama Nation , is a Native American group with nearly 10,000 enrolled members, living in Washington. Their reservation, along the Yakima River, covers an area of approximately 1.2 million acres...
(5%). Haplogroup X is more strongly present in the Near East
Near East
The Near East is a geographical term that covers different countries for geographers, archeologists, and historians, on the one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...
, the Caucasus, and Mediterranean Europe
Southern Europe
The term Southern Europe, at its most general definition, is used to mean "all countries in the south of Europe". However, the concept, at different times, has had different meanings, providing additional political, linguistic and cultural context to the definition in addition to the typical...
. The predominant theory for sub-haplogroup X2a's appearance in North America is migration along with A, B, C, and D mtDNA groups, from a source in the Altai Mountains of central Asia.
Sequencing of the mitochondrial genome from Paleo-Eskimo
Paleo-Eskimo
The Paleo-Eskimo were the peoples who inhabited the Arctic region from Chukotka in present-day Russia across North America to Greenland prior to the rise of the modern Inuit and/or Eskimo and related cultures...
remains (3,500 years old) are distinct from modern Amerindians, falling within sub-haplogroup D2a1, a group observed among today's Aleutian Islanders, the Aleuts and Siberian Yupik
Siberian Yupik
Siberian Yupiks, or Yuits, are indigenous people who reside along the coast of the Chukchi Peninsula in the far northeast of the Russian Federation and on St. Lawrence Island in Alaska. They speak Central Siberian Yupik , a Yupik language of the Eskimo–Aleut family of languages.They were also...
populations. This suggests that the colonizers of the far north and subsequently Greenland originated from later coastal populations. Then a genetic exchange in the northern extremes introduced by the Thule people
Thule people
The Thule or proto-Inuit were the ancestors of all modern Inuit. They developed in coastal Alaska by AD 1000 and expanded eastwards across Canada, reaching Greenland by the 13th century. In the process, they replaced people of the earlier Dorset culture that had previously inhabited the region...
(proto-Inuit) approximately 800–1,000 years ago began. These final Pre-Columbian migrants introduced haplogroups A2a and A2b to the existing Paleo-Eskimo populations of Canada and Greenland, culminating in the modern Inuit.
AtDNA
Genetic diversity and population structure in the American landmass is also done using autosomal (atDNA) micro-satellite markers genotypeGenotype
The genotype is the genetic makeup of a cell, an organism, or an individual usually with reference to a specific character under consideration...
d; sampled from North, Central, and South America and analyzed against similar data available from other indigenous populations
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
worldwide. The Amerindian populations show a lower genetic diversity
Genetic diversity
Genetic diversity, the level of biodiversity, refers to the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species. It is distinguished from genetic variability, which describes the tendency of genetic characteristics to vary....
than populations from other continental regions. Observed is a decreasing genetic diversity as geographic distance from the Bering Strait occurs as well as a decreasing genetic similarity to Siberian populations from Alaska (the genetic entry point). Also observed is evidence of a higher level of diversity and lower level of population structure in western South America compared to eastern South America. There is a relative lack of differentiation between Mesoamerican and Andean
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
populations, a scenario that implies that coastal routes were easier for migrating peoples (more genetic contributors) to traverse in comparison with inland routes. The over-all pattern that is emerging suggests that the Americas were recently colonized by a small number of individuals (effective size of about 70), which grew by a factor of 10 over 800 – 1000 years. The data also shows that there have been genetic exchanges between Asia, the Arctic and Greenland since the initial peopling of the Americas.
Overlaps between DNA types
Populations that have a specific combination of autosome, Y and MT-haplogroup mutations can generally be found with regional variations. Autosomes, Y mutations and mt mutations do not necessarily occur at a similar time and there are differential rates of sexual selection between the two sex chromosomes. This combined with population bottleneckPopulation bottleneck
A population bottleneck is an evolutionary event in which a significant percentage of a population or species is killed or otherwise prevented from reproducing....
s, the founder effect
Founder effect
In population genetics, the founder effect is the loss of genetic variation that occurs when a new population is established by a very small number of individuals from a larger population. It was first fully outlined by Ernst Mayr in 1942, using existing theoretical work by those such as Sewall...
, mitochondrial mutations
Human mitochondrial molecular clock
The human mitochondrial molecular clock is the rate at which mutations have been accumulating in the mitochondrial genome of hominids during the course of human evolution. The archeological record of human activity from early periods in human prehistory is relatively limited and its interpretation...
and genetic drift
Genetic drift
Genetic drift or allelic drift is the change in the frequency of a gene variant in a population due to random sampling.The alleles in the offspring are a sample of those in the parents, and chance has a role in determining whether a given individual survives and reproduces...
will alter the genetic composition of isolated populations, resulting in very distinguishable mutation patterns. (i.e. Taíno
Taíno people
The Taínos were pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. It is thought that the seafaring Taínos are relatives of the Arawak people of South America...
s, Fuegians
Fuegians
Fuegians are the indigenous inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, at the southern tip of South America. In English, the term originally referred to the Yaghan people of Tierra del Fuego...
, Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
, Yupik and Algonquian
Algonquian peoples
The Algonquian are one of the most populous and widespread North American native language groups, with tribes originally numbering in the hundreds. Today hundreds of thousands of individuals identify with various Algonquian peoples...
)
The rough overlaps between Y-DNA and mtDNA between the Americas, Circumpolar north, and Siberian indigenous populations are:
| Y-DNA haplogroup(s) - | mtDNA haplogroup(s) - | Geographical area(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Q Haplogroup Q (Y-DNA) In human genetics, Haplogroup Q is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup.-Origins:Haplogroup Q is one of the two branches of haplogroup P . Haplogroup Q is believed to have arisen in Central Asia approximately 15,000 to 20,000 years ago. It has had multiple origins proposed... , R1 Haplogroup R1 (Y-DNA) In human genetics, Haplogroup R1 is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup, a subgroup of haplogroup R, associated with the M173 mutation. It is dominated in practice by two very common Eurasian clades, R1a and R1b, which together are found all over Eurasia except in Southeast Asia and East Asia... , C3 Haplogroup C3 (Y-DNA) In human genetics, Haplogroup C3 is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup mainly found in indigenous Siberians, Kazakhs and Mongolians. Haplogroup C3 is the most widespread and frequently occurring branch of the greater Haplogroup C... |
A Haplogroup A (mtDNA) In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup A is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup.-Origin:Haplogroup A is believed to have arisen in Asia some 30,000-50,000 years before present... , X Haplogroup X (mtDNA) In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup X is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup. It has a widespread global distribution but no major regions of distinct localization.-Origin:... , Y Haplogroup Y (mtDNA) In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup Y is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup.-Distribution:Haplogroup Y has been found in approximately 66% of Nivkhs and approximately 20% of Ainus. However, this haplogroup also has been found in approximately 2% of Koreans, and in South Siberian and... , C Haplogroup C (mtDNA) In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup C is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup.-Origin:Haplogroup C is believed to have arisen somewhere between the Caspian Sea and Lake Baikal some 60,000 years before present. It is a descendant of the haplogroup M.-Distribution:Haplogroup C is found in... , D Haplogroup D (mtDNA) In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup D is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup.-Origin:Haplogroup D is believed to have arisen in Asia some 48,000 years before present. It is a descendant haplogroup of haplogroup M.-Distribution:... (M Haplogroup M (mtDNA) In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup M is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup. An enormous haplogroup spanning all the continents, the macro-haplogroup M, like its sibling N, is a descendant of haplogroup L3.... types), (N Haplogroup N (mtDNA) In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup N is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup. An enormous haplogroup spanning many continents, the macro-haplogroup N, like its sibling M, is a descendant of haplogroup L3.... types |
Russian far east Russian Far East Russian Far East is a term that refers to the Russian part of the Far East, i.e., extreme east parts of Russia, between Lake Baikal in Eastern Siberia and the Pacific Ocean... , Americas Americas The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily... , Arctic Arctic The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost... |
Old world genetic admixture
Interracial marriageInterracial marriage
Interracial marriage occurs when two people of differing racial groups marry. This is a form of exogamy and can be seen in the broader context of miscegenation .-Legality of interracial marriage:In the Western world certain jurisdictions have had regulations...
and interracial sex
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
and, more generally, the process of racial admixture, has its origins in prehistory. Racial mixing became widespread during Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an colonialism
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
in the Age of Discovery
Age of Discovery
The Age of Discovery, also known as the Age of Exploration and the Great Navigations , was a period in history starting in the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century during which Europeans engaged in intensive exploration of the world, establishing direct contacts with...
. Genetic exchange between two populations reduces the genetic distance
Genetic distance
Genetic distance refers to the genetic divergence between species or between populations within a species. It is measured by a variety of parameters. Smaller genetic distances indicate a close genetic relationship whereas large genetic distances indicate a more distant genetic relationship...
between the populations and is measurable in DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
patterns. During the Age of Discovery, beginning in the late 1400s CE, European explorers
Exploration
Exploration is the act of searching or traveling around a terrain for the purpose of discovery of resources or information. Exploration occurs in all non-sessile animal species, including humans...
sailed the oceans
World Ocean
The World Ocean, world ocean, or global ocean, is the interconnected system of the Earth's oceanic waters, and comprises the bulk of the hydrosphere, covering almost 71% of the Earth's surface, with a total volume of 1.332 billion cubic kilometres.The unity and continuity of the World Ocean, with...
, eventually reaching all the major continent
Continent
A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
s. During this time Europeans contacted many populations, some of which had been relatively isolated for millennia
Millennium
A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years —from the Latin phrase , thousand, and , year—often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system....
. The genetic demographic
Demographics
Demographics are the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology , public policy, and marketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, and even location...
composition of the Eastern Hemisphere has not changed significantly since the age of discovery. However, genetic demographics in the Western Hemisphere were radically altered by events following the voyages of Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
. The European colonization of the Americas
European colonization of the Americas
The start of the European colonization of the Americas is typically dated to 1492. The first Europeans to reach the Americas were the Vikings during the 11th century, who established several colonies in Greenland and one short-lived settlement in present day Newfoundland...
brought contact between peoples of Europe, Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and Asia and the Amerindian populations. As a result, the Americas today have significant and complex multiracial
Multiracial
The terms multiracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestries come from multiple races. Unlike the term biracial, which often is only used to refer to having parents or grandparents of two different races, the term multiracial may encompass biracial people but can also include people with...
populations. Many individuals who self-identify as one race exhibit genetic evidence of a multiracial ancestry.
The European invasion of Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
was initially executed by male soldiers and sailors from Iberia, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. The new soldier-settlers fathered children with Amerindian women and later with African slaves. These mixed-race children were generally identified by the Iberian colonists as Casta
Casta
Casta is a Portuguese and Spanish term used in seventeenth and eighteenth centuries mainly in Spanish America to describe as a whole the mixed-race people which appeared in the post-Conquest period...
s. In the 1600s CE, the North American fur trade
North American Fur Trade
The North American fur trade was the industry and activities related to the acquisition, exchange, and sale of animal furs in the North American continent. Indigenous peoples of different regions traded among themselves in the Pre-Columbian Era, but Europeans participated in the trade beginning...
brought more European men, from France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, who took North Amerindian women as wives. Their children became known as Métis
Métis people (Canada)
The Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with...
or Bois-Brûlés
Bois-Brûlés
Bois-Brûlés , or Brullis , is a sub-tribe of North American Dakota Indians . The name is most frequently associated with the Dakota in Manitoba near the Red River of the North.The Bois-Brûlés took part in the Battle of Seven Oaks...
by the ethnic French and mixed-blood
Mixed-blood
The term mixed-blood in the United States is most often employed for individuals of mixed European and Native American ancestry who are not of Hispanic descent . Some of the most prominent in the 19th century were mixed-blood or mixed-race children born of marriages and unions between fur traders...
s, half-breed
Half-breed
Half-breed is an historic term used to describe anyone who is mixed Native American and white European parentage...
s or country-born
Anglo-Métis
A 19th-century community of the Métis people of Canada, the Anglo-Métis, more commonly known as Countryborn, were children of fur traders; they typically had Orcadian, Scottish, or English fathers and Aboriginal mothers. Their first languages were generally those of their mothers: Cree, Saulteaux,...
by the English and Scots. From the second half of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, new waves of immigrants from northern, eastern and southern Europe went to the Americas and consequently altered the demographics
Demographics
Demographics are the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology , public policy, and marketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, and even location...
. Following World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and subsequent worldwide migrations, the current American populations' genetic admixture can be traced to all corners of the world.
Blood groups
Prior to the 1952 confirmation of DNA as the hereditary material by Alfred HersheyAlfred Hershey
Alfred Day Hershey was an American Nobel Prize-winning bacteriologist and geneticist.He was born in Owosso, Michigan and received his B.S. in chemistry at Michigan State University in 1930 and his Ph.D. in bacteriology in 1934, taking a position shortly thereafter at the Department of Bacteriology...
and Martha Chase
Martha Chase
Martha Cowles Chase , also known as Martha C. Epstein, was an American geneticist famously known for being a member of the 1952 team which experimentally showed that DNA rather than protein is the genetic material of life. She was greatly respected as a geneticist. Chase was born in 1927 in...
, scientists used blood proteins
Blood proteins
Blood proteins, also termed serum proteins or plasma proteins, are proteins found in blood plasma. Serum total protein in blood is 7g/dl...
to study human genetic variation. The ABO blood group system
ABO blood group system
The ABO blood group system is the most important blood type system in human blood transfusion. The associated anti-A antibodies and anti-B antibodies are usually IgM antibodies, which are usually produced in the first years of life by sensitization to environmental substances such as food,...
is widely credited to have been discovered by the Austrian Karl Landsteiner
Karl Landsteiner
Karl Landsteiner , was an Austrian-born American biologist and physician of Jewish origin. He is noted for having first distinguished the main blood groups in 1900, having developed the modern system of classification of blood groups from his identification of the presence of agglutinins in the...
, who found three different blood types in 1900. Blood groups are inherited from both parents. The ABO blood type is controlled by a single gene
Gene
A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...
(the ABO gene
ABO (gene)
Histo-blood group ABO system transferase is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ABO gene.It determines the ABO blood group of an individual.- Function :...
) with three allele
Allele
An allele is one of two or more forms of a gene or a genetic locus . "Allel" is an abbreviation of allelomorph. Sometimes, different alleles can result in different observable phenotypic traits, such as different pigmentation...
s: i, IA, and IB.
Research by Ludwik and Hanka Herschfeld during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
found that the frequencies of blood groups A,B and O differed greatly from region to region. The "O" blood type (usually resulting from the absence of both A and B alleles) is very common around the world, with a rate of 63% in all human populations. Type "O" is the primary blood type among the indigenous populations of the Americas, in-particular within Central and South America populations, with a frequency of nearly 100%. In indigenous North American populations the frequency of type "A" ranges from 16% to 82%. This suggests again that the initial Amerindians evolved from an isolated population with a minimal number of individuals.
| PEOPLE GROUP | O (%) | A (%) | B (%) | AB (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackfoot Blackfoot The Blackfoot Confederacy or Niitsítapi is the collective name of three First Nations in Alberta and one Native American tribe in Montana.... (N. Am. Indian) | 17 | 82 | 0 | 1 |
Bororo Bororo people The Bororo or Bororo-Boe people live in the Mato Grosso region of Brazil; they also extended into Bolivia and the Brazilian state of Goiás. The Western Bororo, now extinct, lived around the Jauru and Cabaçal rivers... (Brazil) | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Eskimos (Alaska) | 38 | 44 | 13 | 5 |
Inuit Inuit The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language... (Eastern Canada & Greenland) | 54 | 36 | 23 | 8 |
| Hawaiians Native Hawaiians Native Hawaiians refers to the indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands or their descendants. Native Hawaiians trace their ancestry back to the original Polynesian settlers of Hawaii.According to the U.S... | 37 | 61 | 2 | 1 |
Indigenous North Americans (as a whole Native Nations Native Americans in the United States Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as... /First Nations First Nations First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The... ) | 79 | 16 | 4 | 1 |
Maya Maya peoples The Maya people constitute a diverse range of the Native American people of southern Mexico and northern Central America. The overarching term "Maya" is a collective designation to include the peoples of the region who share some degree of cultural and linguistic heritage; however, the term... (modern) | 98 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Navajo Navajo people The Navajo of the Southwestern United States are the largest single federally recognized tribe of the United States of America. The Navajo Nation has 300,048 enrolled tribal members. The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo Indian reservation in the... | 73 | 27 | 0 | 0 |
Peru Indigenous peoples in Peru Indigenous people in Peru comprise a large number of distinct ethnic groups who inhabited the country's present territory prior to its discovery by Europeans around 1500... | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Genealogical testing
A genealogical DNA test examines the nucleotideNucleotide
Nucleotides are molecules that, when joined together, make up the structural units of RNA and DNA. In addition, nucleotides participate in cellular signaling , and are incorporated into important cofactors of enzymatic reactions...
s at specific locations on a person's DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
for genetic genealogy
Genetic genealogy
Genetic genealogy is the application of genetics to traditional genealogy. Genetic genealogy involves the use of genealogical DNA testing to determine the level of genetic relationship between individuals.-History:...
purposes. The test results are not meant to have any medical value; they are intended only to give genealogical information. Genealogical DNA tests generally involve comparing the results of living individuals to historic populations. The general procedure for taking a genealogical DNA test involves taking a painless cheek-scraping (also known as a buccal swab) at home and mailing the sample to a genetic genealogy laboratory for testing. The most popular ancestry tests are Y chromosome (Y-DNA) testing and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) testing which test direct-line paternal and maternal ancestry, respectively. DNA tests (autosomal DNA) for other purposes attempt, for example, to determine a person's comprehensive genetic make-up and/or ethnic origins. A man's patrilineal ancestry, or male-line ancestry, can be traced using the DNA on his Y chromosome
Y chromosome
The Y chromosome is one of the two sex-determining chromosomes in most mammals, including humans. In mammals, it contains the gene SRY, which triggers testis development if present. The human Y chromosome is composed of about 60 million base pairs...
(Y-DNA) through Y-STR
Y-STR
A Y-STR is a short tandem repeat on the Y-chromosome. Y-STRs are often used in forensics, paternity, and genealogical DNA testing.-Nomenclature:Y-STRs are assigned names by the HUGO gene nomenclature committee....
testing. This is useful because the Y chromosome passes down almost unchanged from father to son. Results showing specific sub-Haplogroups of Q
Haplogroup Q (Y-DNA)
In human genetics, Haplogroup Q is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup.-Origins:Haplogroup Q is one of the two branches of haplogroup P . Haplogroup Q is believed to have arisen in Central Asia approximately 15,000 to 20,000 years ago. It has had multiple origins proposed...
, R1
Haplogroup R1 (Y-DNA)
In human genetics, Haplogroup R1 is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup, a subgroup of haplogroup R, associated with the M173 mutation. It is dominated in practice by two very common Eurasian clades, R1a and R1b, which together are found all over Eurasia except in Southeast Asia and East Asia...
and C3b
Haplogroup C3 (Y-DNA)
In human genetics, Haplogroup C3 is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup mainly found in indigenous Siberians, Kazakhs and Mongolians. Haplogroup C3 is the most widespread and frequently occurring branch of the greater Haplogroup C...
implies that he is, in whole or in-part, indigenous to the Americas. A person's matrilineal or mother-line ancestry can be traced using the DNA in his or her mitochondria, the mtDNA. This mtDNA is passed down by the mother unchanged, to all children. If one's mtDNA belonged to specific sub-Haplogroups of, A
Haplogroup A (mtDNA)
In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup A is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup.-Origin:Haplogroup A is believed to have arisen in Asia some 30,000-50,000 years before present...
, B
Haplogroup B (mtDNA)
In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup B is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup.-Origin:Haplogroup B is believed to have arisen in Asia some 50,000 years before present. Its ancestral haplogroup was Haplogroup R....
, C
Haplogroup C (mtDNA)
In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup C is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup.-Origin:Haplogroup C is believed to have arisen somewhere between the Caspian Sea and Lake Baikal some 60,000 years before present. It is a descendant of the haplogroup M.-Distribution:Haplogroup C is found in...
, D
Haplogroup D (mtDNA)
In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup D is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup.-Origin:Haplogroup D is believed to have arisen in Asia some 48,000 years before present. It is a descendant haplogroup of haplogroup M.-Distribution:...
or X2a
Haplogroup X (mtDNA)
In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup X is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup. It has a widespread global distribution but no major regions of distinct localization.-Origin:...
, the implication would be that he or she is, in whole or part, indigenous to the Americas.
See also
- Archaeology of the AmericasArchaeology of the AmericasThe archaeology of the Americas is the study of the archaeology of North America , Central America, South America and the Caribbean...
- ArchaeogeneticsArchaeogeneticsArchaeogenetics, a term coined by Colin Renfrew, refers to the application of the techniques of molecular population genetics to the study of the human past. This can involve:*the analysis of DNA recovered from archaeological remains, i.e...
- Ancient DNAAncient DNAAncient DNA is DNA isolated from ancient specimens. It can be also loosely described as any DNA recovered from biological samples that have not been preserved specifically for later DNA analyses...
- Early human migrationsEarly human migrationsEarly human migrations began when Homo erectus first migrated out of Africa over the Levantine corridor and Horn of Africa to Eurasia about 1.8 million years ago, a migration probably sparked by the development of language Early human migrations began when Homo erectus first migrated out of Africa...
- Haplogroups of historical and famous figures
- Race and genetics
- Y-chromosome haplogroups by populationsY-chromosome haplogroups by populationsThe following articles are lists of human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups found in populations and various ethnic groups by regions or continents around the world based on relevant studies, and the samples have been taken from individuals identified by linguistic designation.General*Y-DNA haplogroups...
- Archaeogenetics of the Near EastArchaeogenetics of the Near EastThe archaeogenetics of the Near East involves the study of aDNA or ancient DNA, identifying haplogroups and haplotypes of ancient skeletal remains from both YDNA and mtDNA for populations of the Ancient Near East The archaeogenetics of the Near East involves the study of aDNA or ancient DNA,...
- Genetics and archaeogenetics of South AsiaGenetics and archaeogenetics of South AsiaThe study of the genetics and archaeogenetics of the ethnic groups of South Asia aims at uncovering these groups' genetic history. The geographic position of India makes Indian populations important for the study of the early dispersal of all human populations on the Eurasian continent.The Indian...
- Genetic history of Africa
- Genetic history of EuropeGenetic history of EuropeThe genetic history of Europe can be inferred from the patterns of genetic diversity across continents and time. The primary data to develop historical scenarios coming from sequences of mitochondrial, Y-chromosome and autosomal DNA from modern populations and if available from ancient DNA...
- Genetic history of ItalyGenetic history of ItalyDuring prehistory Italy was populated by different but very similar Indo-European groups, later collectively listed amongst the Ancient peoples of Italy, of whom the Italic one was predominant....
- Genetic history of North AfricaGenetic history of North AfricaThe population genetics of North Africans has been heavily influenced by geography.The Sahara desert to the south and the Mediterranean Sea to the North were important barriers to gene flow in prehistoric times. However Eurasia and Africa form a single land mass at the Suez. At the Straits of...
- Genetic history of the Iberian PeninsulaGenetic history of the Iberian PeninsulaThe ancestry of modern Iberians is consistent with the geographical situation of the Iberian Peninsula in the south-west of Europe: there are strong connections with both Mediterranean Europe and Atlantic Europe....
- Genetic history of the British IslesGenetic history of the British IslesThe genetic history of the British Isles is the subject of research within the larger field of human population genetics. It has developed in parallel with DNA testing technologies capable of identifying genetic similarities and differences between populations...
External links
- Atlas of the Human Journey, Genographic Project, National Geographic
- Journey of Mankind – Genetic Map – Bradshaw FoundationJohn Robinson (sculptor)John Robinson was a British sculptor and co-founder of the . Accounts of his work may be seen at the , the website of the and the June and July 2007, issues of...
- An mtDNA view of the peopling of the world by Homo sapiens Cambridge DNA's
- World Haplogroups Maps (2005) – University of Illinois
- Learn about Y-DNA Haplogroup Q – Genebase Systems
- Learn about Y-DNA Haplogroup R1 – Genebase Systems
- Q yDNA Project – International society of genetic genealogy
- Eastern Algonquian yDNA Project – FamilyTreeDNAFamilyTreeDNAFamily Tree DNA is a commercial genetic genealogy company based in Houston, Texas with its partner laboratory, Arizona Research Labs, housed at the University of Arizona. Family Tree DNA offers analysis of autosomal DNA, YDNA, and mtDNA to individuals for genealogical purposes based on DNA samples...
Documentaries about human migration in general
- Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey (movie) by Spencer WellsSpencer WellsSpencer Wells is a geneticist and anthropologist, an at the National Geographic Society, and Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of '56 Professor at Cornell University. He leads The Genographic Project.-Education:...
– PBS and National Geographic ChannelNational Geographic ChannelNational Geographic Channel, also commercially abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo, is a subscription television channel that airs non-fiction television programs produced by the National Geographic Society. Like History and the Discovery Channel, the channel features documentaries with factual...
, 2003 - The Real Eve: Modern Man's Journey Out of Africa - by Stephen OppenheimerStephen OppenheimerStephen Oppenheimer is a British paediatrician, geneticist, and writer. He is a member of Green Templeton College, Oxford and an honorary fellow of Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and carries out and publishes research in the fields of genetics and human prehistory.-Career:Oppenheimer...
- Discovery ChannelDiscovery ChannelDiscovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
, 2002 - DNA Mysteries – The Search for Adam - by Spencer Wells - National Geographic, 2008