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Genetic homogeneity of Icelanders: fact or fiction?

Nature Genetics volume 25, pages 373–374 (2000)Cite this article

Much has been made of the genetic homogeneity of Icelanders1,2. “The native genome of Iceland offers a powerful and rare resource in genomic research—a relatively homogeneous population.”3 Fascinated by the promise of genomics, the popular press have joined in: “Iceland is probably the most homogeneous society in the world….Nowhere else has such a pure—and predictable—genetic inheritance”4 and “…there has been little immigration to muddy the genetic pool over the centuries.”5 As Icelandic population geneticists, we sought evidence for these claims.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the people who provided us with samples. This work was supported by grants from Nysköpunarsjódur námsmanna, the University of Iceland Research Fund and the Icelandic Science Fund to E.Á.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biology, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland

    Einar Árnason, Hlynur Sigurgíslason & Eiríkur Benedikz

Authors
  1. Einar Árnason
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  2. Hlynur Sigurgíslason
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  3. Eiríkur Benedikz
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Correspondence to Einar Árnason.

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Árnason, E., Sigurgíslason, H. & Benedikz, E. Genetic homogeneity of Icelanders: fact or fiction?. Nat Genet 25, 373–374 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/78036

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