Discover your roots...
2007-07-18 14:17
Cape Town - The Africa Genome Education Institute, supported by local genealogy website Ancestry24.com, will trace the ancient origins of all South Africans.
The study will reportedly fill a gap in the current DNA databases available worldwide and establish the diversity of ancestry in the South African population.
The July issue of Vanity Fair features an article that outlines the migration route of U2 front-man Bono's ancestors from east Africa to Ireland.
Looking at what is known as mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y chromosome DNA, scientists are able to reconstruct the hereditary lineage of individuals and their families as far back as 100 000 years.
The limitation of this approach is that those ancestors who did not pass on their genes by having surviving children are excluded from the studies. "Still, we are able to enrich beyond measure our understanding of who we are and where it is we come from," said Dr Wilmot James, co-leader of the project.
James, who is about to spend a month at the University of Edinburgh's Genome Forum, believes that the new molecular anthropology will revolutionise historical knowledge, inform the debate about who is to be regarded as a settler and who is not, and explore the emerging consensus that we are all of African origin.
The first phase of the study will focus on South Africans who believe they are originally of Niger-Congo descent. Researchers will then go on to study the entire South African population.
Professor Raj Ramesar, head of the Division of Human Genetics at the University of Cape Town and director of the MRC's Human Genetics Research Unit, will lead the sampling process.
The testing will be undertaken by Associate Professor Himla Soodyall who is the principal medical scientist at the National Health Laboratory Service and holds a joint appointment as an Associate Professor in the Division of Human Genetics at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Ancestry24 is a partner site of News24.