Migratory Tale of Humans

An international research team comprising researchers from Northeast Hill University, Shillong and Indian Statistical Institute has found that eight groups of Khasi from Northeast Asia and neighbouring Garo harbour unique genetic signature. Analysing the genes, the researchers found that the tribal populations provide a genetic continuity between the populations of South and Southeast Asia.

Given the Northeast India, the only region which forms a land bridge between the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, the researchers propounded that northeast India could have been a major corridor for human migration from India to East or Southeast Asia. The findings of the study have been published in a recent issue of PLoS One.

Such studies are also helpful in determining whether or not common diseases are caused by common susceptibility genes that are likely to be old and therefore, present in tribal populations. The demographic history and genetic diversity in Indian populations make tribal studies particularly informative for the fine mapping of complex genetic diseases.

The population genetics of the Indian subcontinent is central to understanding early human prehistory due to its strategic location on the proposed corridor of human movement from Africa to Australia during the late Pleistocene.

Furthermore, many of the environmental risk factors that may be responsible for triggering certain complex diseases may not be common among tribals; thus, in such cases, would be more feasible to differentiate genetic factors from environmental risk factors for these diseases. As environmental factors are known to be associated and are prevalent with urban and more sedentary lifestyles, it is imperative that we study the genetic diversity among Indian tribal populations, particularly the primitive ones. Since these tribes live with nature, they are most suited for the study of general environmental interaction.