Genetic structure of native circumpolar populations based on autosomal, mitochondrial, and Y chromosome DNA markers

So here is a paper that I'm co-author on if you want to see the type of work I did during my graduate career. Granted, I'm still interested in anthro genetics but right now my time is subsumed my cardiovascular and statistical genetics.

Genetic structure of native circumpolar populations based on autosomal, mitochondrial, and Y chromosome DNA markers

Rohina Rubicz 1 *, Phillip E. Melton 1, Victor Spitsyn 2, Guangyun Sun 3, Ranjan Deka 3, Michael H. Crawford 4

1Department of Genetics, Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, San Antonio, TX 78245 2Research Centre for Medical Genetics, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Moscow, 117415 Russia 3Department of Environmental Health, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH 45267 4Department of Anthropology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045

This study investigates the genetic structure of the present-day inhabitants of Beringia in order to answer questions concerning their origins and evolution. According to recent studies, the ancestors of Native Americans paused for a time in Beringia, during which they differentiated genetically from other Asians before peopling the New World. Furthermore, the Koryaks of Kamchatka share a ubiquitous allele (D9S1120) with Native Americans, indicating they may have descended from the same ancestral Beringian population that gave rise to the New World founders. Our results show that a genetic barrier exists between Kamchatkans (Koryaks and Even) and Bering Island inhabitants (Aleuts, mixed Aleuts, and Russians), based on Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA) and structure analysis of nine autosomal short tandem repeats (STRs). This is supported by mitochondrial DNA evidence, but not by analysis of Y chromosome markers, as recent non-native male admixture into the region appears to have partially obscured ancient population relationships. Our study indicates that while Aleuts are descended from the original New World founders, the Koryaks are unlikely to represent a Beringian remnant of the ancestral population that gave rise to Native Americans. They are instead, like the Even, more recent arrivals to Kamchatka from interior Siberia, and the ubiquitous allele in Koryaks may result from recent gene flow from Chukotka.