Peopling Asia

Current understanding of human evolution is that people originated in north Africa and migrated all around the globe. This is opposed to the belief that people originated in several different locations. What ancient routes were taken can be teased out by looking at several factors. As people spread out languages developed. Their structure can be analyzed for relationships that might hint at their origin. Cultures and traditions that developed can also show similarities.

DNA is being used to look at genetic relationships between and within populations. By looking at variation in highly conserved regions of our genome, the HUGO Pan Asian SNP Consortium determined that Asia was people by a distinct migration out of the Middle East through India.

This study laid a foundation to answer more intricate questions: what is the origin of the native Australians and when did these migrations take place.


Click here to read research article.