BAMAD-138

Brit-Am Anthropology and DNA Update (25 December 2015, 12 Tevet, 5776)

Contents:
1. MtDNA is also transmitted by Males!
Roosters run afoul of genetic rules
2. Amerindian DNA Links to Europeans?
3. New Results? Alternate DNA.  27% of Finnish from East Mediterranean?
4. White Americans have Remained 'Shockingly European' Despite Decades of Pro-Racial Mixing Propaganda, New DNA Study Reveals
5. Ireland. Is distinctive DNA marker proof of ancient genocide? by John Holden 
6. Mt[female-transmitted]DNA Influenced by Environment
7. Nearly one-third of Native American genes come from west Eurasian people linked to the Middle East and Europe, rather than entirely from East Asians as previously thought, according to a newly sequenced genome.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1. MtDNA is also transmitted by Males!
Roosters run afoul of genetic rules
http://new-inventions.net/2015/12/18/roosters-run-afoul-of-genetic-rules/
Researchers caught a rooster doing a hen's job: passing on mitochondrial DNA to his chicks. Mitochondria, the energy-generating organelles inside cells, carry a circular chromosome containing genes needed to make the mitochondria and keep them running. The long-held rule was that these powerhouses of the cell are inherited only from the mother. But some birds in a 50-generation family of White Plymouth Rock chickens at Virginia Tech broke that rule.

For the study, reported in the October Biology Letters, researchers determined the genetic makeup of mitochondrial genomes from 12 of the chickens. A mutation in the ND4L gene originated in a rooster, the researchers discovered. He passed the mutation to his chicks.

Scientists don't know how often mitochondria are inherited from fathers in the wild, they've seen it in some plants (SN: 5/16/15, p. 8), sheep and even in one person. Such evidence suggests that fathers bequeath mitochondria to their progeny more often than previously suspected. That finding could muddy the results of the many studies that use mitochondrial DNA to trace maternal lineages and determine evolutionary relationships.
cf.
Paternal Inheritance of Mitochondrial DNA
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa020350
Marianne Schwartz, Ph.D., and John Vissing, M.D., Ph.D.
N Engl J Med 2002; 347:576-580August 22, 2002DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa020350
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2. Amerindian DNA Links to Europeans?
 "Cristian Sildan"
Peace Yair,
Since you started to be interested in Indians, here are 2 links that might
be worth investigating.
Have a happy new year.
Cristian
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/11/131120-science-native-american-people-migration-siberia-genetics/

http://patagoniamonsters.blogspot.ro/2014/07/y-chromosome-haplogroup-r-in-america.html
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
3. New Results? Alternate DNA.  27% of Finnish from East Mediterranean?

http://www.dnatribes.com/dnatribes-digest-2013-01-02.pdf
Extracts:

DNA Tribes estimates that Germanic people have 3.1% of their DNA that is similar to what is found in the  Altai
region and 1.4% that is similar to what is found in Salishan Indians. DNA
Tribes estimates that Celtic people (presumably Irish, Welsh, and/or
Scottish) have 4.6% of their DNA that is similar to what is found in the
Altai region and 5.5% that is similar to what is found in Salishan Indians.

DNA Tribes
estimates that 21.1% of the Finnish  DNA is similar to what is found in the Altai
region and 4.3% that is similar to what is found in Salishan Indians.
27.6% of Finnish DNA  is of Eastern Mediterranean in origin
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
4. White Americans have Remained 'Shockingly European' Despite Decades of Pro-Racial Mixing Propaganda, New DNA Study Reveals

http://newobserveronline.com/white-americans-remained-shockingly-european-despite-decades-pro-racial-mixing-propaganda-new-dna-study-reveals/
According to the research, the essential conclusions are as follows:

* All three study groups in the data set: African Americans, European Americans and Latinos, have ancestry from Africa, Europe, and the Americas.

* Approximately 3.5 percent of European Americans have 1 percent or more African ancestry. Many of these European Americans who describe themselves as 'white' may be unaware of their African ancestry since the African ancestor may be 5-10 generations in the past.

* European Americans with African ancestry are found at much higher frequencies in southern states than in other parts of the US.

* The highest levels of African ancestry among self-reported African Americans are found in southern states, especially South Carolina and Georgia, although that was on average less than 75 percent.

* One in every 20 African Americans carries Native American ancestry.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
5. Ireland. Is distinctive DNA marker proof of ancient genocide? by John Holden 
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/is-distinctive-dna-marker-proof-of-ancient-genocide-1.1426197
Extracts:
Did you know Ireland has the highest concentration of men with the R1b DNA marker? No fewer than 84 per cent of all Irish men carry this on their Y chromosome.

While this marker is also high on male Y chromosomes in parts of Britain, particularly Wales, according to commercial ancestry testing company IrelandsDNA, the high prevalence here may indicate the arrival of a lot of people at a broadly similar time who weren't prepared to peacefully co exist with the settlers here.

According to IrelandsDNA, the so called 'G-Men' may have established farming in Ireland 'but their successful culture was almost obliterated by what amounted to an invasion, even a genocide, some time around 2,500BC' (the frequency of G in Ireland is now only 1.5 per cent). 'There's a cemetery in Treille [France], where ancient DNA testing has been carried out and almost all men carry the 'G' marker but the women don't,' says Moffat. They carry native/indigenous markers. This strongly suggests incoming groups of men. Because the R1b marker is still so prevalent in Ireland and is also frequently found in places like France and northern Spain we believed that around 2,500 BC, the R1b marker arrived in Ireland from the south.'

Moffat admits it is just a hypothesis but cites connections which lead to this theory. 'The first signs of farming in Ireland were found on the Dingle peninsula in Kerry, which suggests people coming from the south,' he says. 'If you look at Lebor Gabhala Irenn or The Book of the Taking of Ireland [a Middle Irish collection recounting mythical origins of life in Ireland dating from the 11th century] most of the invasions come from the south.'

The southern migrants referred to by Moffat were the Beaker people, originating from Iberia. It has also been suggested that it was they who may have brought Celtic languages up the Atlantic coast.

Moffat cites archaeological evidence, from the Copper Age, to suggest this movement. 'Evidence for the beginning of the Copper Age in Ireland is also found in the south, particularly Ross Island in Killarney, where a tremendous complex system of prehistoric mines exists. It's clear that the copper was exported.

'How did these new people impose themselves in such a big way,' he asks. 'It has to have been through conflict. The early people were farmers so they invested generations of effort in improving the land. When these new people show up they must have used violence to shift the 'G-Men'. The frequency of 'G-Men' is tiny in Ireland. Compare the statistics: 1 per cent versus 84 percent..
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
6. Mt[female-transmitted]DNA Influenced by Environment
Climate shaped the worldwide distribution of human mitochondrial DNA sequence variation
http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2009/07/07/rspb.2009.0752.abstract?papetoc
Francois Balloux1,*,
Lori-Jayne Lawson Handley2,
Thibaut Jombart1,
Hua Liu3 and
Andrea Manica4,* 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
7. Nearly one-third of Native American genes come from west Eurasian people linked to the Middle East and Europe, rather than entirely from East Asians as previously thought, according to a newly sequenced genome.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/11/131120-science-native-american-people-migration-siberia-genetics/
Extracts:

Based on the arm bone of a 24,000-year-old Siberian youth, the research could uncover new origins for America's indigenous peoples, as well as stir up fresh debate on Native American identities, experts say.

The study authors believe the new study could also help resolve some long-standing puzzles on the peopling of the New World, which include genetic oddities and archaeological inconsistencies. (Explore an atlas of the human journey.)

The arm bone of a three-year-old boy from the Mal'ta site near the shores ofLake Baikal in south-central Siberia (map) yielded what may be the oldest genome of modern humans ever sequenced.

DNA from the remains revealed genes found today in western Eurasians in the Middle East and Europe, as well as other aspects unique to Native Americans, but no evidence of any relation to modern East Asians.

A second individual genome sequenced from material found at the site and dated to 17,000 years ago revealed a similar genetic structure.

Prevailing theories suggest that Native Americans are descended from a group of East Asians who crossed the Bering Sea via a land bridge perhaps 16,500 years ago, though some sites may evidence an earlier arrival.

"This study changes this idea because it shows that a significant minority of Native American ancestry actually derives not from East Asia but from a people related to present-day western Eurasians," Willerslev said.

"It's approximately one-third of the genome, and that is a lot," he added. "So in that regard I think it's changing quite a bit of the history."

"Although we know that North Americans are related to East Asians, it's striking that no contemporary East Asian populations really resemble Native Americans," he said.

"It's not like you can say that they are really closely related to Japanese, Chinese, or Koreans, so there seems to be something missing. But this result makes a lot of sense regarding why they don't fit so well genetically with contemporary East Asians, because one-third of their genome is derived from another population."

The findings could also allow reinterpretation of archaeological and anthropological evidence, like the famed Kennewick Man, whose remains don't look much like modern-day Native American or East Asian populations, according to some interpretations.

"Maybe, if he looks like something else, it's because a third of his ancestry isn't coming from East Asia but from something like the western Eurasians."

The Siberian child "was found buried with all kinds of cultural items, including Venus figurines, which have been found from Lake Baikal west all the way to Europe.

"So now we know that the individual represented with this culture is a western Eurasian, even though he was found very far east. It's an interesting question how closely related this individual might have been to the individuals carving these figurines at the same time in Europe and elsewhere."