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Genetic study on people of Lakshadweep Islands
Why is it in news?
- Recently, Scientists at CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) for the first time conducted genetic studies on the people of the Lakshadweep archipelago.
More in news
- Lakshadweep:(1) Lakshadweep is an archipelago of 36 islands, scattered over approximately 78,000 square km of the Arabian Sea, 200-440 kms off the south-western coast of India.(2) It has a population of approximately 65,000.
- Previous understandings about genetic composition of Lakshadweep:(1) The genetic composition of the first human settlement of this archipelago is not clear.(2) Since, islands are located between Africa and southwestern part of India, it was presumed that Lakshadweep Islands might have played a major role in early human migration and expected the presence of genetic signatures of ancient people, such as Andamanese and Australian aboriginals.
- What study says?(1) Study has shown that a majority of human ancestry in Lakshadweep is largely derived from South Asia with minor influences from East and West Eurasia.There was no evidence of early human migration through the Lakshadweep islands.(2) Study found a strong founder effect for both paternal and maternal lineage-a sign that the island population had limited genetic mixing.(3) It also demonstrated a close genetic link of Lakshadweep islanders with people from Maldives, Sri Lanka and India.
Source
The Hindu