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Female gene flow stratifies Hindu castes

Nature volume 395, pages 651–652 (1998)Cite this article

Abstract

Scientists have long been interested in understanding how social processes modulate evolutionary forces1. A good example of this is the intensively studied Hindu caste system, which governs the mating practices of nearly one-sixth of the world's population2,3. However, there is controversy concerning the effect of social stratification on the genetic structure of caste communities. Here we show that differences in social rank between castes correspond to mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) distances between castes but not genetic distances estimated from Y-chromosome data.

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Figure 1: Neighbour-joining networks7 of genetic distances among caste communities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Pediatrics, Eccles Institute of Human Genetics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, 84112, Utah, USA

    Michael J. Bamshad

  2. Departments of Human Genetics, Eccles Institute of Human Genetics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, 84112, Utah, USA

    W. Scott Watkins, Mary E. Dixon & Lynn B. Jorde

  3. Department of Anthropology, Andhra University, Visakhaptnam, Andhra Pradesh, India

    B. Bhaskara Rao, J. M. Naidu & B. V. Ravi Prasad

  4. Laboratory of Molecular Systematics and Evolution, University of Arizona, Tucson, 85721, Arizona, USA

    Arani Rasanayagam & Mike F. Hammer

Authors
  1. Michael J. Bamshad
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  2. W. Scott Watkins
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  3. Mary E. Dixon
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  4. Lynn B. Jorde
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  5. B. Bhaskara Rao
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  6. J. M. Naidu
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  7. B. V. Ravi Prasad
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  8. Arani Rasanayagam
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  9. Mike F. Hammer
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Bamshad, M., Watkins, W., Dixon, M. et al. Female gene flow stratifies Hindu castes. Nature 395, 651–652 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/27103

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