Alexandria Henderson

Anthropology 130

2/28/2018

Article Summary 2

The article “The genetic structure and history of africans and african americans”

by Tishkoff and colleagues, is about genetic variation in African people. This study was

conducted to better understand the evolutionary history of African people.

The researchers gathered DNA from 121 populations in Africa, four African

American populations, and 60 non-African populations in order to see how their genes

differed. They looked at specific parts of the DNA to determine the ancestry of each of

the people. The scientists looked at different tribes of African people and compared their

DNA. By doing so, they were able to see how their genetic lineages diverged. This

information helps researchers understand when ancient populations migrated out of

Africa and what effects this has on the diversity of their descendants. The scientists

grouped all native Africans into 14 clusters; each cluster shares common ancestry. This

helps scientists learn how ancient people migrated across Africa. They also searched

for a correlation between language and ethnic diversity. They did this by observing the

languages spoken by the people involved in the study and noticed that many people

with shared ancestors, spoke similar or the same languages.

After collecting data, the researchers found that the Africans and African

Americans involved in the study were more diverse than the non-Africans. Through their

research, they also found that there is a correlation between linguistic and genetic
diversity. Groups of people migrated across Africa, spreading their languages, culture

and genetics. There also were African populations with Middle Eastern ancestry, which

suggests that there was gene flow from those regions. This helps anthropologists

approximate when and where ancient people of different races have traveled through

Africa and how that affects the genetics of the modern inhabitants. It also points out

possible migration patterns of certain populations. Of the people tested, most African

Americans traced their ancestry back to West Africa. Scientists attribute this to the slave

trade since it was more prevalent in those regions. This study allowed scientists to learn

more about the diverse populations in Africa and has given insight into how they

formed.

Africa has a great amount of ethnic diversity caused by thousands of years of

high gene flow between different populations and a large amount of different languages

and cultures. This diversity gives scientists a window into how populations mixed over

thousands of years and formed the native people who live today. We can learn so much

about our species by looking at the DNA of modern people and this study proves that. In

the future, scientists should study the regions of North and Central Africa to compare

their genetics with the genetics from areas that have already been studied. They could

take samples from African Americans in different parts of the U.S. to see if they also

have roots in west Africa. Researchers could also use genotypes to identify genetic risk

factors to create specialized treatments for diseases and improve medicine in Africa.