Jewish genetics in The Forward

Genetics 2009 features a dozen or so articles, mostly focusing on Jewish diseases. I see nothing new in David Goldstein's article on "Jewish Genetic History". The article seems to be a rehashing of old information padded with suggestions for future research.
How did members of various Jewish populations come to look so different from one another

We now know that Jewish populations have substantial Near Eastern ancestry. [. . .] Y chromosomes from different Jewish populations — including those from Europe — usually look like those commonly found in people from the Near East.

The rest of the Jewish genome paints a similar, though less pronounced, picture. [. . .]

Ultimately, [. . .] research is needed to shed further light on this question. Before too long we will be able to sequence people’s entire genomes and track where individual parts of genomes come from. This will likely yield additional insights about the specific genetic inputs into Jewish populations from surrounding communities.
Goldstein attributes the varied phenotypes of Jewish groups exclusively to intermarriage, ignoring the likelihood that selection has played a role.

No comments: