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. 2010 Nov;18(11):1269-70.
doi: 10.1038/ejhg.2010.92. Epub 2010 Jun 23.

Genes predict village of origin in rural Europe

Colm O'Dushlaine  1 , Ruth McQuillan, Michael E Weale, Daniel J M Crouch, Asa Johansson, Yurii Aulchenko, Christopher S Franklin, Ozren Polašek, Christian Fuchsberger, Aiden Corvin, Andrew A Hicks, Veronique Vitart, Caroline Hayward, Sarah H Wild, Thomas Meitinger, Cornelia M van Duijn, Ulf Gyllensten, Alan F Wright, Harry Campbell, Peter P Pramstaller, Igor Rudan, James F Wilson
Affiliations

Genes predict village of origin in rural Europe

Colm O'Dushlaine et al. Eur J Hum Genet. 2010 Nov.

Abstract

The genetic structure of human populations is important in population genetics, forensics and medicine. Using genome-wide scans and individuals with all four grandparents born in the same settlement, we here demonstrate remarkable geographical structure across 8-30 km in three different parts of rural Europe. After excluding close kin and inbreeding, village of origin could still be predicted correctly on the basis of genetic data for 89-100% of individuals.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Fine-scale genetic structure in rural European populations illustrated using principal component analysis. Individuals are a subset of participants from the EUROSPAN project, with all four grandparents from the same isle (Scotland; n=36), village (Croatia, n=157) or valley (Italy, n=57). Individuals with ancestry in different settlements are coloured red, blue and/or green. (a) Italy, (b) Scotland and (c) Croatia.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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