Genes show African roots of Indian
islanders
ABC ONLINE 11/12/2001
Natives of India's Andaman Islands, once famed for their ferocity and unique appearance,
are indeed genetically separate and may be direct descendants of Stone Age settlers,
researchers say.
Analysis of DNA from samples taken in recent times and 100 years ago show the Andaman
islanders, who include a group known as the Jarawa, are genetically different from other
Asians.
The islanders, who are on the verge of extinction, have a language and culture distinct
from other South Asian groups. They physically resemble African Pygmies and were once
called Negritos.
Their genetic make-up suggests they may be descendants of people who migrated east out of
Africa during the last Ice Age, which ended 20,000 years ago, the international team of
researchers reports in this week's issue of Current Biology.
Dr Erika Hagelberg of Norway's University of Oslo, along with colleagues from India, the
United States and New Zealand, examined DNA samples from three of the four present-day
Andamanese groups.
They also found DNA in hair samples collected by Alfred Radcliffe-Brown, a British
ethnographer, between 1906 and 1908.
They looked at mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down virtually unchanged from mother to
daughter, and the Y chromosomes passed from father to son.
Changes in these two sources of DNA are due to genetic mutation and can be
"clocked" based on the known average rate of mutation for each generation. It is
an inexact science but often matches other known historical factors.
Hagelberg's team found evidence that the Andamese separated from other Asians tens of
thousands of years ago.
While more closely related to other Asians than to modern-day Africans, their DNA suggests
they may have descended from an earlier group of people who left Africa and populated
Europe and Asia.
END
OF REPORT
Back |
|
