In this work, Helgason et. al. analyzed DNA from skeletal remains from 68 Icelandic individuals that were over 1,000 years old and compared it to contemporary Icelandic DNA as well as DNA from other populations around Iceland (Scotland, Ireland, etc). This was a pretty large and very impressive genetic study. They found that the older DNA more closely resembles the DNA from the sourrounding countries than to contemporary Icelandic DNA. Their findings demonstrate that the women from Iceland came from Scotland and Ireland (presumably with the Vikings) and are a great example of genetic drift in a population. The gene pool of contemporary Icelandic people was found to have evolved more rapidly (the oval in the figure representing the gene pool of Iceland gets bigger faster) than the surrounding populations that probably first settled Iceland. Very cool! (Figure Credit: Helgason et al., doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1000343.g002)
Monday, January 19, 2009
Rapid Evolution in Icelandic DNA
In this work, Helgason et. al. analyzed DNA from skeletal remains from 68 Icelandic individuals that were over 1,000 years old and compared it to contemporary Icelandic DNA as well as DNA from other populations around Iceland (Scotland, Ireland, etc). This was a pretty large and very impressive genetic study. They found that the older DNA more closely resembles the DNA from the sourrounding countries than to contemporary Icelandic DNA. Their findings demonstrate that the women from Iceland came from Scotland and Ireland (presumably with the Vikings) and are a great example of genetic drift in a population. The gene pool of contemporary Icelandic people was found to have evolved more rapidly (the oval in the figure representing the gene pool of Iceland gets bigger faster) than the surrounding populations that probably first settled Iceland. Very cool! (Figure Credit: Helgason et al., doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1000343.g002)
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