Very fine-scale population structure in Europe

Genes predict village of origin in rural Europe:
Using genome-wide scans and individuals with all four grandparents born in the same settlement, we here demonstrate remarkable geographical structure across 8–30 km in three different parts of rural Europe. After excluding close kin and inbreeding, village of origin could still be predicted correctly on the basis of genetic data for 89–100% of individuals. [. . .]

Such fine-scale differentiation is consistent with the highly nonrandom nature of human mate choice over the millennia. The average distance between the birthplaces of spouses in rural parts of Finland, the Po valley in northern Italy and the isles of Scotland in the nineteenth century was B1.5–3 km.10 Such close endogamy was probably the norm in rural Europe due to lack of transport or economic opportunities. The breakdown of these isolates has since dramatically altered the population structure.11

The exquisite structure preserved in the genomes of people with all grandparents from the same settlement demonstrates that very detailed genetic and geographical ancestry information can be obtained by genome-wide SNP analyses. This provides novel opportunities, under certain circumstances, to predict the micro-geographical origin of an individual. Genetic association studies that include rural populations must also model this genetic structure, but it is not a barrier to gene discovery.12 When whole-genome sequences become widely available, the ability to use many more variants, including rarer ones, to identify short shared genomic segments will perhaps allow routine identification of regional ancestries, given a suitably large and carefully collected reference sample.

8 comments:

Tanstaafl said...

Such close endogamy was probably the norm in rural Europe due to lack of transport or economic opportunities. The breakdown of these isolates has since dramatically altered the population structure.

What a polite way of euphemizing the genocidal effects of globalism and mass immigration.

Silver said...

What a polite way of euphemizing the genocidal effects of globalism and mass immigration.

What a precious way of epitomizing the gormless effects of racialism and mass paranoia.

Ever heard of trains, automobiles, feller? Think they might have some relevance to a study on microregional origins?

Tanstaafl said...

So the reason we're not defending ourselves and our territory from mass immigration is because the invaders use trains and automobiles?

Seems to me it has more to do with the fact that the people running the regime welcome the invasion, and ruthlessly repress anyone who tries to interfere with it.

Anonymous said...

Who's talking about "invaders"? People move around their own countries, you know. (You should know, seeing you so recently did so yourself.) Obviously this has an effect on "very fine-scale" population structure.

Tanstaafl said...

Who's talking about "invaders"?

As the article notes, and I've already quoted:

The breakdown of these isolates has since dramatically altered the population structure.

The massive influx of genetic aliens, whether in the US or Europe, more dramatically alters the population structure, fine and coarse, than the consequent flight of those who end up seeking refuge amongst their own kind. Without the invasion there'd be far less internal migration, thus far less of alteration of population structure at all levels.

Another Anon said...

Tanstaafl, the study talks about genetic distinctiveness within an European context. Prior to modern transportation, and not too long ago, subgroups within an European ethnic group could conceivably be expected to be easily identified through DNA testing due to their presenting relative breeding isolates with slightly reduced genetic diversity. Urban areas back then -- like now if we exclude the darkies&Euroforeigners via a Gedankenexperiment -- conversely maintain the 'urban' level of genetic diversity and a longer-reaching breeding range, in effect unifying an European ethnic group to the extent that one almost cannot tell one urban area from another via DNA testing.

Nevertheless, the distinctiveness of subgroups is probably overstated by the artefactual manner through which Fst distances and PCA are anchored by genetic diversity, and has much smaller effects on ethnic genetic interests than it immediately appears. The word "dramatically" is thus a misnomer.

Neither the paper nor the language used have anything to do with the current race-replacement regime as far as I can see.

Tanstaafl said...

I was wrong to describe the authors as euphemizing something they don't address at all.

Dasein said...

That second bit that n/a highlighted, in particular "exquisite structure preserved in the genomes of people with all grandparents from the same settlement" is perhaps about as close as one can get to advocating for racial and ethnic preservation in academia without drawing unwanted attention. I'm impressed with their choice of adjective (exquisite). However, scientists are often wont to play up the aesthetics of their data or experiments ('elegant' being a popular adjective), so it's difficult to know whether it's pride/snobbery or affection that motivated their choice of words.

Now that the case for racial and ethnic diversity has become nearly unassailable, due to genome-wide data sets combined with techniques like PCA and Bayesian clustering, this angle (preservation of exquisite genetic diversity) might be the best for persuading (or better, morally shaming) scientists (who are overwhelmingly environmentalists, in my experience) into opposing racial and ethnic homogenisation.

Compare that second bolded sentence with this paragraph, from the invasive subcon Razib, who would like us to avoid drawing proper inferences from current trends:

If Eyak language was so awesome, why wasn’t the article written in Eyak? I find the paeans to linguistic and cultural diversity tiresome and knee-jerk. In 1820 there was a relatively wide range of diversity of views in regards to slavery. No longer today. Today the diversity in attitudes toward legal equality between the sexes is diminishing due to the implementation of gender egalitarianism by cultural elites and international institutions. More seriously, this needs some fleshing out: “That the Earth is becoming more homogeneous — less of a patchwork quilt and more of a melting pot.” Yes, the patchwork is being torn about, but smaller pieces are being reassembled. There are for example people today who are half-Chinese & half-English devotees of Vaishnava Hinduism. There are more combinations as the fuller possible parameter space is being explored, despite the decrease in the number of modes across the distributions.

Speed the day when Razib is widely shamed for writing something like that.