Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad   

‘Andaman tribes descendants of first humans’

HYDERABAD: The tribal population of Andaman and Nicobar Islands were probably the descendants of the first modern humans, who migrated out of Africa about 65,000-70,000 years ago.

This was revealed by studies conducted by the scientists of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), its Director Lalji Singh told the on-going 13th Human Genome Meeting here on Sunday.

The studies were carried out on more than 10,000 individuals belonging to more than 200 ethnic groups of India.

The scientists were interested in studying population history as well as molecular mechanism of diseases among Indian populations since the country had one the largest sources of human diversity -- consisting of 4,635 culturally and anthropologically well-defined populations with little or no gene flow between them.

The genetic studies further confirmed that the Andamenese were very unique.

Making a presentation, Dr. Singh said the earlier concept was that the tribals had migrated through the Northern route by crossing the Red Sea, Middle East, Europe, Southeast Asia and reached India.

However, these studies showed that the very first humans, who moved out of Africa, did so via India through the coastal route to Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The presence in West Bengal and Kerala of two tribes as old as those who migrated also confirmed the Southern sea route.

Archaeological evidence in Andhra Pradesh revealed hunting tools, dating back to 75,000 years, Dr.Lalji Singh added.

Dr. Singh, who made a presentation on ‘Genetic diversity in Indian populations and its implications in health and disease’, said the Indian population was unique in its genetic origin as well as its susceptibility to diseases and what was true for Western population in terms of response to medicine could not be accepted blindly for us.

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