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Population genetics

Genetic geography

Nature Reviews Genetics volume 9, pages 732–733 (2008)Cite this article

It is well known that allele frequencies differ between populations, but this does not necessarily lead to a graded distribution of frequencies that resembles an actual geographical map. Nor is it clear at what scale the differences between groups breaks down — is the information still meaningful among closely spaced, neighbouring countries, for example? To answer these questions, Novembre and colleagues genotyped 3,192 European individuals using Affymetrix 500K SNP arrays. These data were pared-down to 197,146 loci in 1,387 individuals after people with mixed or non-European ancestry had been removed and adjustments made for linkage disequilibrium and unequal sampling.

The second study, by Kayser and colleagues, showed similar correlations between genetic and geographical distribution. In addition, these authors showed higher levels of heterozygosity and lower levels of linkage disequilibrium in southern Europe, which is consistent with the continent having been populated through migration from south to north. They also compared the data with the CEPH-CEU data set of North Americans of European descent, which is often used in genetic studies. They found that this population is predominantly of northern and western European origin, showing that it has limitations when used as a control group for other European populations.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPERS

  1. Novembre, J. et al. Gene mirror geography within Europe. Nature 31 Aug 2008 (doi: 10.1038/nature07331)

  2. Lao, O. et al. Correlation between genetic and geographic structure in Europe. Current Biol. 18, 1241–1248 (2008)

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  1. Patrick Goymer
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Goymer, P. Genetic geography. Nat Rev Genet 9, 732–733 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg2456

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg2456

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