The Genetic Map of Europe

[n2doc]

By NICHOLAS WADE
Published: August 13, 2008
Biologists have constructed a genetic map of Europe showing the degree of relatedness between its various populations.


All the populations are quite similar, but the differences are sufficient that it should be possible to devise a forensic test to tell which country in Europe an individual probably comes from, said Manfred Kayser, a geneticist at the Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands.

The map shows, at right, the location in Europe where each of the sampled populations live and, at left, the genetic relationship between these 23 populations. The map was constructed by Dr. Kayser, Dr. Oscar Lao and others, and appears in an article in Current Biology published on line on August 7.

The genetic map of Europe bears a clear structural similarity to the geographic map. The major genetic differences are between populations of the north and south (the vertical axis of the map shows north-south differences, the horizontal axis those of east-west). The area assigned to each population reflects the amount of genetic variation in it.

more:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/13/science/13visual.html

[DS1]

1. this map is disciminatory against Finns

and should be reworked to make it all inclusive! :D

:sarcasm:

[SteppingRazor]

2. Couple interesting points I noticed right away:

First, the most obvious one, that the Finns appear to be almost totally genetically divested from Europe.

Second, check out Ireland and England -- kinda interesting that most of Ireland is English while most Irish are in England, no? I mean, common sense seems to dictate that, since the Irish have been migrating into the UK for a couple of centuries now, but it's kinda cool to see it shown in genetics.

[semillama]

3. Interesting.

The surprising thing is that there is no connection between Ireland and Portugal/Spain - there had been a lot of theorizing that some of the celtic makeup of Ireland came from immigrants from Iberia.

Finland being off by itself is of course not a surprise.

[zazen]

4. wonder if more Danes invaded Ireland--hence commonality with nordic cos.

It seems like some Britons/Celts are off there in England still (in Wales?), but those damned Danish and later Norman invasions really made their mark all over Ireland, which is why my daughters of their Dad's Irish "Brannigan" descent have Scandinavian angular blue eyes while their mom's a half-lidded, green-eyed Scot.

[semillama]

6. Actually, the map does show the invasion of celtic people into the UK and Ireland pretty well

The UK group includes the original inhabitants of the British Isles, with an overlay by the later Celts, Anglo-Saxons, and Scandinavians.

[zazen]

5. I think Garrison Keillor is going to have fun with the Finns finding

[Odin2005]

7. Woah, the Finns are way out in the middle of nowhere, genetically! n/t