Source: news.bbc.co.uk
UNITED KINGDOM, December 21, 2009: An international scientific effort has revealed the genetics behind Asia’s diversity. The Human Genome Organisation’s (HUGO) Pan-Asian SNP Consortium carried out a study of almost 2,000 people across the continent. The study answered a question about the origin of Asia’s population. It showed that the continent was likely populated primarily through a single migration event from the south. Previously, there has been some debate about whether Asia was populated in two waves – one to South East Asia, and a later one to central and north-east Asia, or whether only a single migration occurred.
Shuhua Xu from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who was a member of the consortium, said that this was “the first study to give a clear answer to the question on the origin of East Asian populations,” Dr Xu added.