Maciamo
26-08-11, 14:27
The HLA genes play a vital role in our immune system. HLA can confer you immunity against some diseases, but also make you more prone to some autoimmune reactions (check this thread (http://www.eupedia.com/forum/showthread.php?25151-HLA-types-and-autoimmune-diseases) to know more).
Nature (http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110809/full/476136a.html?WT.mc_id=TWT_NatureNews) and Science (http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2011/08/19/science.1209202.abstract) recently reported that Eurasian people inherited some of their HLA genes from Neanderthals and Denisovans. This includes HLA-A2, HLA-A11, HLA-A24, HLA-B7, HLA-B8, HLA-B15, HLA-B38, HLA-B39, HLA-B40, HLA-B44, HLA-B48, HLA-B51, HLA-B52, HLA-B66, HLA-B67, HLA-B73, HLA-Cw1, HLA-Cw2, HLA-Cw4, HLA-Cw7, HLA-Cw14, HLA-Cw15 and HLA-Cw16. You can read the details in the supporting material (http://www.sciencemag.org/content/suppl/2011/08/19/science.1209202.DC1/1209202-Abi-Rached.SOM.pdf).
HLA can also be used to determine one's ancestry. It doesn't work as well as Y-DNA because humans obviously need genetic diversity to survive and fight off diseases, which explains why some HLA type are found on several or all continents.
But within a continent, HLA can be useful in determining the degree of influence of one ethnic group between regions. For example, the study People of the British Isles (http://www.nature.com/ejhg/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ejhg2011127a.html) published 2 weeks ago analysed some HLA types as well as Y-DNA haplogroups. Whereas many HLA types were evenly distributed, a few obviously correlated with the historical migration patterns in Britain. Based on the regional frequencies, it can be estimated that HLA-B8 correlates more strongly with a Celtic origin (other data indicate a peak of 17% in Ireland, Cornwall and Devon, then 12.5% in Belgium, then France, North Italy and North Spain). On the other hand, HLA-Cw3 appears to be more Germanic, with maximum frequencies in Britain reached in East England (17.5%) and Orkney (17.1%) and the lowest frequency in the Southwest (12.3%). Using the same logic, HLA-DRB4 is more Celtic, while HLA-DRB7 and HLA-DRB15 point rather at higher incidence among Germanic, and particularly Scandinavian, people.
Nature (http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110809/full/476136a.html?WT.mc_id=TWT_NatureNews) and Science (http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2011/08/19/science.1209202.abstract) recently reported that Eurasian people inherited some of their HLA genes from Neanderthals and Denisovans. This includes HLA-A2, HLA-A11, HLA-A24, HLA-B7, HLA-B8, HLA-B15, HLA-B38, HLA-B39, HLA-B40, HLA-B44, HLA-B48, HLA-B51, HLA-B52, HLA-B66, HLA-B67, HLA-B73, HLA-Cw1, HLA-Cw2, HLA-Cw4, HLA-Cw7, HLA-Cw14, HLA-Cw15 and HLA-Cw16. You can read the details in the supporting material (http://www.sciencemag.org/content/suppl/2011/08/19/science.1209202.DC1/1209202-Abi-Rached.SOM.pdf).
HLA can also be used to determine one's ancestry. It doesn't work as well as Y-DNA because humans obviously need genetic diversity to survive and fight off diseases, which explains why some HLA type are found on several or all continents.
But within a continent, HLA can be useful in determining the degree of influence of one ethnic group between regions. For example, the study People of the British Isles (http://www.nature.com/ejhg/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ejhg2011127a.html) published 2 weeks ago analysed some HLA types as well as Y-DNA haplogroups. Whereas many HLA types were evenly distributed, a few obviously correlated with the historical migration patterns in Britain. Based on the regional frequencies, it can be estimated that HLA-B8 correlates more strongly with a Celtic origin (other data indicate a peak of 17% in Ireland, Cornwall and Devon, then 12.5% in Belgium, then France, North Italy and North Spain). On the other hand, HLA-Cw3 appears to be more Germanic, with maximum frequencies in Britain reached in East England (17.5%) and Orkney (17.1%) and the lowest frequency in the Southwest (12.3%). Using the same logic, HLA-DRB4 is more Celtic, while HLA-DRB7 and HLA-DRB15 point rather at higher incidence among Germanic, and particularly Scandinavian, people.