A new study has suggested that many Europeans are descended from Middle Eastern farmers. Researchers at University College London collected DNA from a wide range of European males and looked for rare Y chromosome gene changes called unique event polymorphisms (UEPs) which are not thought to have occurred more than once in recent human history.
Analysis of the DNA revealed that European males carry a large amount of genetic information inherited from Middle Eastern farmers. The genetic contributions ranged from from 15 to 30 percent in France and Germany to 85 to 100 per cent in Albania, Macedonia and Greece.
It is generally agreed that agriculture developed in the Middle East long before the Europeans adopted it about 10,000 years ago. The findings suggest that the move to farming in Europe had more to do with an influx of Middle Eastern farmers than imitation and cultural transmission.
Sources and References
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Ancestry of Europeans traced to Middle East
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Half of all Europeans 'may have Arab genes'
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