Our tribal past
The genetic 'footprints' of ancient tribal ancestors have been uncovered among the bustling population of the world's cities. Some of the most intriguing evidence for this startling new finding has just come from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since atom bombs were dropped in 1945, their citizens, and their genes, have been studied in extensive detail. Scientists have been searching for signs that mutations, triggered by the A-bomb blasts, had passed on to survivors' children. A study of tens of thousands of parents and children, involving the investigation of several thousand genes which control the manufacture of proteins in the body, were carried out.
Against all expectations, researchers, led by Professor James Neel of Michigan University, found no sign that any new mutated genes, created by the blast, were passed on to offspring. But to their great surprise, the researchers did find evidence of other mutations, ones laid down by the ancient tribes that had established the cities – 6,000 years ago when Nagasaki was founded by the Jomon culture and Hiroshima by the Yayoi people. The Jomon and the Yayoi evolved independently and carried genes that varied distinctively. Scientists found these genes still persist among modern Japanese. Nor is Japan alone in displaying its ancient genetic heritage so openly. Italy provides another striking example. By testing blood groups and other genetically determined physical features, scientists have found significant differences between regions in the south, establishing by the ancient Greeks, and further north, round Orvieto, which was the centre of the Etruscan civilization. In other words, the genes of ancient Greeks and Etruscans still flow, noticeably – through the veins of modern Italians. It is even possible to determine differences in spoken dialect between natives of these two regions, ones that exactly correlate to their separate genetic histories.
Scientists now believe that all countries display such characteristics. "There are certainly noticeable differences in blood groups and other genetic features between modern Scots, English and Welsh – for all the intermingling, that has gone on over the ages,' said Dr Jones.
The Observer (BrE)
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