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 to know more).
Nature and Science 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.
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 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 and Science 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.
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 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.
