Haplogroup B

2009-08-02T12:03:00.000-07:00

Available evidence increasingly shows genetic linkage between mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) alterations and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Based on previous studies, the mtDNA 16189 variant is associated with metabolic syndrome, higher fasting insulin concentration, insulin resistance index and lacunar cerebral infarction.

Ina's clan -Haplogroup B

Welcome

Introduction

Mitochondrial DNA (or mtDNA for short) is present in every cell in the body, and it remains virtually unchanged (aside from random mutations which may occur every 10,000 years or so) as it passes from mother to daughter. By quantifying and analyzing the mutations of this relatively stable circle of DNA, Bryan Sykes, professor of human genetics at the University of Oxford and founder of Oxford Ancestors, was able to determine that nearly all modern Europeans descend from one of seven "clan mothers" who lived at different times during the Ice Age. He named these women Xenia, Ursula, Helena, Velda, Tara, Katrina, and Jasmine; and his findings were made popular in his book, "The Seven Daughters of Eve".

In addition to those seven women, Sykes also discovered 29 others from whom the rest of the world's population descend. Of those 29, just four are the ancestresses of the earliest colonizers of North and South America. Their names are Aiyana/Ai, Ina, Chochmingwu/Chie, and Djigonasee/Sachi. The haplogroups used to identify each "clan mother" are based upon the grouping of genetic sequences (known as "polymorphisms") into distinct families. Ina's clan are identified by Haplogroup B (the B clade of the human family tree).

Unlike the other three, Ina's clan is known to have populated not only North and South America, but the Pacific Islands and possibly Madagascar as well. Her name comes form the Polynesian mythological figure "Ina", who appears on the banknotes of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands riding on the back of a shark to the island Mangaia. She is representative of the "first woman" and is also often personified in the moon

All of these women are daughters of the 'Mitochondrial Eve', a single East African woman who lived approximately 150,000 years ago and from whom all of humanity descend. Obviously, she was not the only woman alive during her time, but only her maternal lineage has survived unbroken to the present day.

Origins

After coming out of Africa, modern humans first spread to Asia following two main routes - a Southern one and a Northern one. The Southern one is represented by macro-haplogroup M which radiated some 30,000–57,600 yrs BP (before present) and is overwhelmingly present in India [1] and Eastern Asia where it possibly originated and expanded as haplogroups C, D, G, and others [2].

The other major branch that left Africa, the Northern one, is represented by macro-haplogroup N. It has a lower bound of 43,000–53,000 yrs BP, and spread into at least three main clusters. The first cluster comprises haplogroups X and A, with only a shared mutation between them and different geographic distributions (A is widespread in Asia, X is mainly restricted to Europe). The second cluster groups minor haplogroups W, I, and N1b (each of which is present in low frequencies in Europe, the Near East, and the Caucasus).

The last cluster radiated around 39,000–52,000 yrs BP and gave rise to four major ancestral clusters: Two of them, B and F, derive from N through a common ancestor with most Europeans - phylogenetic node R [3]. The others originated haplogroups J, T, H, V, K, and U, which expanded from the Near East-Caucasus area. [4]

Haplogroup B expanded from Central Asia to Eastern Asia, reaching Japan and the Southeastern Pacific Archipelagos. And, unlike previously believed, it is also found in some Siberian populations. [3, 5, 6]. From there, a substantial number of Ina's descendants then reached North America, either with the other colonists around 13,000 yrs BP via the Bering land bridge, or in a sea-borne colonization along the coast (or both).

Ina's Clan- Haplogroup B

Haplogroup B