A genetic study of modern-day Indians has revealed their ancestry can be traced back to Neolithic Iranian farmers, Eurasian Steppe pastoralists and South Asian hunter-gatherers.
Researchers analysed data from 2,700 people from across India, capturing genetic variation based on geography, linguistic groups and communities. The results could help inform health strategies for the country.
“This study fills a critical gap and reshapes our understanding of how ancient migrations, archaic admixture, and social structures have shaped Indian genetic variation,” said senior author Priya Moorjani of the University of California, Berkeley, who pointed out that even though India’s population is one of the most diverse in the world, it is underrepresented in global data sets.
“Studying these subpopulations allows us to explore how ancient ancestry, geography, language, and social practices interacted to shape genetic variation.”
They used this data to reconstruct the evolutionary history of India at fine scale, showing how history affects adaptation and disease in present-day Indians.
The UC Berkeley team found that most of the genetic variation in India can be explained by a single migration of humans out of Africa about 50,000 years ago. These populations interbred with now-extinct relatives – Neanderthals and Denisovans – and then spread throughout Europe and Asia, including India. As a result, Indians and Europeans both carry roughly equal amounts of Neanderthal genes – between 1 per cent and 2 per cent of the entire genome.
“Potentially, there were earlier waves out of Africa to India, but it’s likely that those groups either did not survive or left little genetic impact on today’s populations,” said Elise Kerdoncuff, a former UC Berkeley postdoctoral fellow and one of two lead authors of the paper.
One of the main goals of the study, published in the journal Cell, was to understand how India’s complex population history has shaped genetic variation related to disease. In India, many subpopulations have an increased risk of recessive genetic disorders, which is due largely to historical isolation and marrying within communities.
Another focus was on how Neanderthal and Denisovan ancestry could make people susceptible to certain diseases. Surprisingly, Indians have a greater variety of Neanderthal DNA segments than other populations around the world.
“One of the most striking and unexpected findings was that India harbours the highest variation in Neanderthal ancestry among non-Africans,” says co-lead author Laurits Skov, also of UC-Berkeley. “This allowed us to reconstruct around 50 per cent of the Neanderthal genome and 20 per cent of the Denisovan genome from Indian individuals, more than any other previous archaic ancestry study.”
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Cases of coronavirus in the GCC as of March 15
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A little about CVRL
Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
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Cyclists must wear a helmet, arm and knee pads
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Avoid carrying weights that could cause the bike to lose balance
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White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
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Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
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