Africans have more genetic variation than anyone else on Earth, said a study that helps narrow the location where humans first evolved, probably near the South Africa-Namibia border.
The largest study of African genetics ever undertaken also found that nearly three-fourths of African-Americans can trace their ancestry to West Africa. The new analysis was published on Thursday in the online edition of the journal Science.
“Given the fact that modern humans arose in Africa, they have had time to accumulate dramatic changes” in their genes, said lead researcher Sarah Tishkoff, a geneticist at the University of Pennsylvania.
Over 10 years, Tishkoff and an international team of researchers trekked across Africa collecting samples of genes from various peoples.
FIGHTING DISEASE
She said that very little had been known about the genetic variation in Africans, information vital to understanding why diseases have a greater impact in some groups than others and in designing ways to counter those illnesses.
Scott Williams of Vanderbilt University said that constructing patterns of disease variations could help determine which genes predispose a group to a particular illness.
This study “provides a critical piece in the puzzle,” he said.
For example, there are clear differences in prevalence of diseases such as hypertension and prostate cancer across populations, Williams said.
“The human genome describes the complexity of our species,” said Muntaser Ibrahim of the department of molecular biology at the University of Khartoum. “Now we have spectacular insight into the history of the African population ... the oldest history of mankind.
“Everybody’s history is part of African history because everybody came out of Africa,” Ibrahim said.
WESTERN AFRICA
The study also found that about 71 percent of African-Americans can trace their ancestry to Western African origins. They also have between 13 percent and 15 percent European ancestry and a smaller amount of other African origins.
There was “very little” evidence for Native American genes among black Americans, Tishkoff said.
Ehret said that only about 20 percent of the Africans brought to North America made the trip directly, while most of the rest went first to the West Indies.
Overall, the researchers were able to study and compare the genetics of 121 African groups, 60 non-African populations and four African-American groups.
MOST-MIXED
The so-called “Cape-colored” population of South Africa has the highest levels of mixed ancestry on the globe, a blend of African, European, East Asian and South Indian, Tishkoff said.
“This will be a great population for study of diseases” that are more common in one group than another, she said.
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
Indonesian police have arrested 13 people after shocking images of alleged abuse against small children at a daycare center went viral, sparking outrage across the nation, officials said on Monday. Police on Friday last week raided Little Aresha, a daycare center in Yogyakarta on Java island, following a report from a former employee. CCTV footage circulating on social media showed children, most younger than two, lying on the floor wearing only diapers, their hands and feet bound with rags. The police have confirmed that the footage is authentic. Police said they also found 20 children crammed into a room just 3m by 3m. “So
About 240 Indians claiming descent from a Biblical tribe landed at Tel Aviv airport on Thursday as part of a government operation to relocate them to Israel. The newcomers passed under a balloon arch in blue and white, the colors of the Israeli flag, as dozens of well-wishers welcomed them with a traditional Jewish song. They were the first “bnei Menashe” (“sons of Manasseh”) to arrive in Israel since the government in November last year announced funding for the immigration of about 6,000 members of the community from the states of Manipur and Mizoram in northeast India. The community claims to descend from
‘TROUBLING’: The firing of Phelan, who was an adviser to a nonprofit that supported the defense of Taiwan, was another example of ‘dysfunction’ under Trump, a US senator said US Secretary of the Navy John Phelan has been fired, a US official and a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, in another wartime shakeup at the Pentagon coming just weeks after US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ousted the Army’s top general. The Pentagon announced his departure in a brief statement, saying he was leaving the administration “effective immediately,” but it did not provide a reason or say whether it was his decision to go. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Phelan was dismissed in part because he was moving too slowly to implement reforms to
RSS