Scientists from CCMB and Harvard reconstructed Indian population history
India is second most populous country and makes up around one-sixth of the world’s population, yet it has been sorely under-represented in genome-wide studies of human genetic variation. Recently a group led by Lalji Singh of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad, India and David Reich of the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, analyzed more than 500,000 genetic markers across the genomes of 132 individuals from 25 diverse groups, representing 13 states, all six language families, traditionally “upper” and “lower” castes, and tribal groups in order to shed light on genetic variability across the Indian subcontinent.
The findings of the study were published in the September 24th issue of Nature, provided clues that can help reconstruct the historical origins of modern populations. The new research reveals that nearly all Indians carry genomic contributions from two distinct ancestral populations. Following this ancient mixture, many groups experienced periods of genetic isolation from each other for thousands of years.
These genomic analyses revealed two ancestral populations. “Different Indian groups have inherited forty to eighty percent of their ancestry from a population that we call the Ancestral North Indians who are related to western Eurasians, and the rest from the Ancestral South Indians, who are not related to any group outside India
“This work is an outstanding example of the power of international collaboration,” — Lalji Singh
Reference:
Reich D, Thangaraj K, Patterson N, Price AL, Singh L (2009) Reconstructing Indian population history. Nature DOI:10.1038/nature08365
About the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB)
The CCMB is one of the 38 laboratories of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Government of India. The primary emphasis of the CCMB is on doing basic research in biological sciences, including cell biology and development, genetics and evolution, molecular biology, genomics and proteomics, structural biology, transgenic and gene knock-out, infectious diseases, biotechnology and biomedicine. The CCMB promotes centralized national facilities for new and modern techniques in the inter-disciplinary areas of biology and interacts with industry to carry out basic and applied research. The CCMB was chosen as a centre for excellence by UNESCO Global Network for Molecular and Cell Biology MCBN. The Third World Academy of Sciences, TWAS, Italy has designated it as a South Centre for excellence for research and training. For further information about CCMB, go to http://www.ccmb.res.in.
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