To all:

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/20/health/20GENE.html

Gene Study Identifies 5 Main Human Populations

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http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/30/health/genetics/30RACE.html?ex=1029034617


Race is Seen as Real Guide to Track Roots of Disease

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http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/24/science/24RACE.html

Here is more on race compiled with DNA information. It looks as though
georgraphy plays an important role
Populations worldwide share most of their genetic variability in common. But
since they dispersed from the
ancestral human population, each has accumulated its own pattern of genetic
differences through random change and natural selection.

Gerry


The Palette of Humankind
NYT December 24, 2002
By NICHOLAS WADE

Humankind falls into five continental groups - broadly
equivalent to the common conception of races - when a
computer is asked to sort DNA data from people from around
the world into clusters.

The major groups are African (orange), Europeans and Middle
Easterners (blue), East Asians (pink), Melanesians (green)
and American Indians (purple). Genomes of people from
Central Asia, such as the Hazara of Afghanistan and the
Uygurs of western China, are a blend of European and East
Asian, as might be expected for people living at a
historical crossroads. Some Middle Easterners, like the
Bedouin and the Mozabites of Algeria, carry an admixture of
African genes.

The chart, generated by Dr. Marcus Feldman of Stanford and
colleagues and published in the current Science, was made
by sampling the DNA of 1,056 people from 52 of the many
populations around the world. Each person's genome was
sampled at 377 sites where the DNA breaks into a stutter of
repeated short sequences. These repeats, though apparently
without function, are useful in tracking human variation,
and are also the elements used in DNA forensic tests of
identity.

In the chart, each individual's genome is represented by a
single line, colored according to its ancestry from each
continental group. Black lines separate individuals from
different populations.

The 52 populations were collected as part of the Human
Genome Diversity Project. Major omissions include
Australian aborigines and Indians. Both groups are in
general unwilling to give their blood for genetic analysis.


Populations worldwide share most of their genetic
variability in common. But since they dispersed from the
ancestral human population, each has accumulated its own
pattern of genetic differences through random change and
natural selection. The chart is based on these genetic
differences, not on the very much larger shared
inheritance.

Have a great Christmas holiday.

Gerry