The genetic history of the Indian subcontinent
- Published
- Accepted
- Subject Areas
- Anthropology, Genetics, Genomics
- Keywords
- ancestry, ethnic groups, genetics, haplogroups, India, Y-DNA, Y-chromosome
- Copyright
- © 2017 Mahal et al.
- Licence
- This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ Preprints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
- Cite this article
- 2017. The genetic history of the Indian subcontinent. PeerJ Preprints 5:e2755v1 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.2755v1
Abstract
The human male specific Y-chromosome passes from father to son essentially unchanged, but occasionally a random change, known as a mutation, occurs. These mutations, also called markers, serve as beacons and can be mapped. When geneticists identify a mutation in a DNA test, they try to determine when it first occurred and in which part of the world. Thus, the Y-chromosome haplogroup, which is a population group descended from a common ancestor, can be used to trace the paternal lines of men. The poster describes a research project that aims to identify the ancient geographical origins of key ethnic communities of the Indian subcontinent, based on their Y-DNA haplogroups.
Author Comment
The poster was created as an informational and educational tool to describe a research project at the 2nd Annual TIRI Conference held at the University of Bolton in July 2016.