Category: Genetics
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When Surya left Olga of the Birch Forest
In the recent film The Northman the protagonist, Amleth, has a romantic relationship with a woman, “Olga of the Birch Forest.” Amleth was a Viking who raided Kievan Rus, and […]
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Happy DNA Day (and whole genome sequencing yourself)
Today is “DNA Day,” I checked Nebula Genomics website to see if there was a deal. So I got the 30x whole genome sequencing for $199+$24.99/month subscription. The deal is […]
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Avars were Rourans
genomes reveal origin and rapid trans-Eurasian migration of 7th century Avar elites: The Avars settled the Carpathian Basin in 567/68 CE, establishing an empire lasting over 200 years. Who they […]
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Gujurati genetics
I was working on a project and decided to check Gujus. A few things 1) A few years ago a Bohra emailed me kind of irritatingly saying I underestimated the non-South Asian ancestry in Bohras. I double-checked and that seems plausible. Looking at this Bohra Patel sample I have, that seems to be clear. 2)…
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The southwestern groups in the Indian subcontinent are enriched for “Middle Eastern” ancestry
Genetic affinities and adaptation of the South West coast populations of India: Evolutionary event has not only transformed the genetic structure of human populations but also associated with social and cultural transformation. South Asian populations were formed as a result of such evolutionary events of migration and admixture of genetically and culturally distinct groups. Most…
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Depigmentation in Northern Europe
Direct detection of natural selection in Bronze Age Britain: We developed a novel method for efficiently estimating time-varying selection coefficients from genome-wide ancient DNA data. In simulations, our method accurately […]
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Why my Substack posts are better and worse than ancestry calculators
Of all my Substack posts, Ashkenazi Jewish genetics: a match made in the Mediterranean has been the most popular of the paid posts. It prompted this response from a reader: […]
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Tibetans as the compound of two populations
A new paper looks at some ancient Tibetan genomes: Present-day Tibetans have adapted both genetically and culturally to the high altitude environment of the Tibetan Plateau, but fundamental questions about […]
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What Sahul tells us about world genetic history
The paper Papua New Guinean Genomes Reveal the Complex Settlement of North Sahul came out a few months ago. It’s fine. But one thing jumped out at me: All estimated […]
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South Asian ancestry in Tajikistan
Genetic continuity of Indo-Iranian speakers since the Iron Age in southern Central Asia: To model Tajiks, all 2-ways admixture models were excluded and we obtained one 3-ways admixture model (p-value = 0.49) implying around 17% ancestry from XiongNu, almost 75% ancestry from Turkmenistan_IA, and around 8% ancestry from a South Asian individual (Indian_GreatAndaman_100BP) representing a…
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Kashmiris are just generic North Indians, and there is no difference between Pandits and Muslim Kashmiris
Since people ask me this I have to post this now and then. We have genetic data. So in short order 1) Kashmiris are like other people in the Northwest of India. They are not enriched in steppe ancestry, at least compared to many Punjabis or Brahmins from the Gangetic plain 2) There is no…
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Pausing research on autism (for now)
High-profile autism genetics project paused amid backlash: But soon after the study’s high-profile launch on 24 August, autistic people and some ASD researchers expressed concern that it had gone ahead […]
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G allele at Rs10774671 protects against severe COVID-19
A new paper digs into OAS1, A prenylated dsRNA sensor protects against severe COVID-19: Inherited genetic factors can influence the severity of COVID-19, but the molecular explanation underpinning a genetic […]
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The Japanese as a creation of the Christian Era
The traditional model, which I’ve alluded to before on this weblog before, is that Japan is a synthesis of Jomon and Yayoi, with the latter dominant, and bringing rice-agriculture to […]
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Hayagriva was a Sintashta!
The paper is not out, but since the data has been uploaded they posted the abstract for the world to see, Project: PRJEB44430: Horse domestication fundamentally transformed long-range mobility and warfare. However, modern domesticates do not descend from the earliest domestic horse lineage associated with archaeological evidence of bridling, milking and corralling at Botai, Central…
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Not all causes are treated equal
Over on Twitter the eminent population geneticist Molly Przeworski has an important and lauded thread up: The thread has been widely re-tweeted and quote-tweeted by biologists. This prompted a response […]
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Nepali Brahmins tend to have Tibeto-Burman ancestry
I ran a Clubhouse last night on Nepalese genetics. I said something to the effect that most Nepalese Brahmins have Tibetan admixture. A Nepalese Brahmin came up on stage to tell me this was inaccurate, and that they did not intermarry with native people. To give the benefit of the doubt I went back and…
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Do genes determine intelligence?
Both conservatives and liberals are ignoring the realities of biology
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Do genes determine intelligence?
Both conservatives and liberals are ignoring the realities of biology
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Eastern Y Chromosomes in the Indian subcontinent
Looking at the Y chromosomes in the Indian subcontinent, it seems that haplogroups C (found in lots of Patels) and F are the only ones with “eastern” affinity that deeply rooted in the subcontinent. Thoughts? H is found in a lot of Adivasi, but seems more related to West Eurasian populations. This is on my…