The immigrant maps of America: Genome study of over 770,000 people reveals the ancestral origins of each part of the country
- Scientists from AncestryDNA analysed genome-wide genotype data from 774,516 Americans
- This allowed researchers to identify the genetic ‘clusters’ within, or the genetic communities
- The study reveals ancestral origins and migration patterns for specific groups across the country
A massive genome-wide study in the United States has revealed a ‘historical portrait’ of post-colonial population patterns across the country.
The study analysed data from more than 770,000 people born or currently living in the US, allowing researchers to identify the genetic ‘clusters’ within.
In a series of maps illustrating the findings, the study highlights the ancestral origins and migration patterns for specific groups to reveal the many different genetic communities Americans belong to.
![In the study, the researchers identified 'clusters' - or genetic communities - throughout North America using data from more than 770,000 people born or currently living in the US. The map shows the distribution of ancestral birth locations associated with these clusters](http://web.archive.org./web/20170209034105/http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/02/08/18/3CF843CD00000578-0-image-m-13_1486578362342.jpg)
In the study, the researchers identified 'clusters' - or genetic communities - throughout North America using data from more than 770,000 people born or currently living in the US. The map shows the distribution of ancestral birth locations associated with these clusters
In the study, published to Nature Communications, AncestryDNA scientists analysed genome-wide genotype data from 774,516 Americans.
With this sample, the team then uncovered the patterns of ‘identity-by-descent’ (IBD).
'Following the arrival of Columbus and his contemporaries, population expansion in the Americas has proceeded at an exceptionally rapid pace, with factors such as war, slavery, disease and climate shaping human demography,' the researchers wrote.
‘We first created a network of genetically-identified relationships – based on DNA alone – among over 700,000 individuals who consented to research,’ the AncestryDNA team explains in a blog post.
‘Using network analysis techniques, we identified clusters of individuals in the network: groups of individuals who are slightly more related to one another than to individuals outside their cluster.
‘In other words, from genetic data we identified novel ‘population structure’ – subtly different groups of individuals within a larger population.’
The researchers grouped the clusters into four broad categories: intact immigrant, continental admixed, assimilated immigrant, and post-migration isolated groups.
The first cluster, they say, likely came about from population structures that existed prior to immigration to the US.
![In the study, scientists analysed genome-wide genotype data from 774,516 Americans. With this sample, the team then uncovered the patterns of ‘identity-by-descent’ (IBD). The researchers grouped the clusters into four broad categories: intact immigrant, continental admixed, assimilated immigrant, and post-migration isolated groups](http://web.archive.org./web/20170209034105/http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/02/08/18/3CF843CD00000578-0-image-m-16_1486578448390.jpg)
In the study, scientists analysed genome-wide genotype data from 774,516 Americans. With this sample, the team then uncovered the patterns of ‘identity-by-descent’ (IBD). The researchers grouped the clusters into four broad categories: intact immigrant, continental admixed, assimilated immigrant, and post-migration isolated groups
This included clusters of Finnish, Scandinavian, Jewish, and Irish ancestries – groups who came to the country in large numbers within the last 200 years – as well as African Americans and individuals of Polynesian ancestry.
In addition, the team included Acadians and French Canadians, who they found to have clusters with ‘clear geographic concentrations both within and outside the United States.’
Admixed clusters largely represented Hispanic/Latino populations, including groups from Colombia, Central America, and the Caribbean.
The third group, the researchers found, accounted for the majority of the samples, with the five largest clusters described as assimilated immigrant clusters.
Making up 60 percent of the samples, assimilated immigrants ‘exhibit a markedly different profile,’ the authors wrote, and lacked ‘distinctive affiliations to non-US populations.’
‘Genealogical data reveal a north-to-south trend, most consistently east of the Mississippi River,’ the authors explain.
‘These findings imply greater east-west than north-south gene flow, which is broadly consistent with recent westward expansion of European settlers in the United States, and possibly somewhat limited north-south migration due to cultural differences.’
The researchers also identified clusters that are thought to have experienced some form of isolation, whether geographic or cultural, though they maintained high levels of diversity and gene flow.
This includes the Amish, along with a group in Utah likely linked to the decedents of Mormon settlers, and a cluster thought to represent the residents of Appalachia, ‘who experienced delayed economic development and regional isolation up until the 20th century.’
The researchers say the analysis makes for a much finer picture of the genetic communities across the United States, and the histories behind them.
With this new methodology, the AncestryDNA team explains it’s now possible to see ‘how specific groups of people are connected through their DNA, what places they called home, and which migration paths they followed to get there – allowing genetics to reveal the history in a more recent time period than ever before.’
Most watched News videos
- Danielle Bregoli throws punches while boarding Spirit Airways
- Cameraman 'zooms in' on woman's breasts in 'see-through' swimsuit
- Caught on camera: Bystanders watch topless men fighting in street
- Moment Lindsay Hoyle and Alex Salmond scream at each other
- Danielle Bregoli discusses fighting a 'crack head' with her mom
- 'I don't take no s***': Bus driver kicks drunk man off bus
- Watch Barack Obama wipe out in kite surfing battle
- McConnell blocks Warren from reading letter from MLK's wife
- Footage shows hostile environment that Alexander Blackman endured
- Melissa McCarthy nails screeching Sean Spicer on SNL
- Danielle went viral after appearing on Dr Phil in 2016
- Moment woman pops open her shirt by flexing her boobs
-
Socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, 45, dies at her London...
-
'She hit my mom and I need to whoop her right now:'...
-
Barack Obam-AIR! New photos show former president...
-
San Francisco transit janitor who makes more than $250K a...
-
Woman accused of Photoshopping an engaged stranger's face...
-
'My intestines were out... and she was grabbing hold of...
-
Snow could hit London TONIGHT and it's set to be a white...
-
Chilling moment four women are stranded on a rock in the...
-
Tara's devastating secret illness in her own words: How...
-
Thinking of her breaststroke? Distracted cameraman...
-
The astonishing moment a Zebra's head is left poking out...
-
Bridge of sighs: Disgusted mother, 19, spots a couple...
-
Visiting daddy at work! Ivanka shares sweet snap of her...
-
New male contraceptive jab that works for TWO YEARS:...
-
Iraqi girl, 10, is 'bitten to death' with medieval...
-
Manchester City star John Stones splashes out £3.4million...
-
Mother is sentenced to 16 years in prison for incest,...
-
92% of left-wing activists live with their parents and...
I notice there is no trace of English, Scots or Wel...
by fizgogg 183