A new genetics study has found that more than 50 per cent of the South Asian populations have Indian ancestry.
The study, conducted by scientists of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in collaboration with the University of Tartu, Estonia, the Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Chennai and Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, has been published in the prestigious American Journal of Human Genetics.
Led by Dr. Kumarasamy Thangaraj of CCMB, it found that South Asia harbours two major ancestry components, one of which is spread at comparable frequency and genetic diversity in populations of South and West Asia, Middle East, Near East and the Caucasus; the other component is more restricted to South Asia.
Both the ancestry components that dominate genetic variation in South Asia demonstrate much greater genetic diversity than those that predominate in West Eurasia.
The genetic affinities of both the ancestry components are incompatible with substantial gene flow into the region during Max Mueller's purported Indo-Aryan invasion 3,500 years ago.
