![]() ![]() Another compelling example indicates that when the Bantus arrived in eastern Sub-Saharan Africa, the local populations passed on a variability associated with the gene that codes for lactase, which enables individuals to continue digesting milk in adulthood. From the admixture with pygmies, for example, Bantu peoples acquired a new form of the HLA system, which helps trigger immune response to infection. Surprisingly, these successive admixture events appear to have been beneficial for the Bantu peoples, conferring advantageous genetic mutations that helped them adapt to their new environments. Their research demonstrates that over the past millennium, the Bantus admixed with pygmy populations from West-Central Africa, Afro-Asiatic-speaking populations from East Africa and San populations from South Africa. The scientists then explored the admixture of Bantu speakers with the local populations they came into contact with. These data therefore clearly support the "late split" theory, suggesting that the Bantu first crossed the equatorial forest before branching off into two groups following migratory routes towards eastern and southern Sub-Saharan Africa, where they came into contact with autochtonous populations inhabiting these regions. The scientists' research revealed that populations of Bantu speakers from eastern and southern Africa are genetically more similar to populations based south of the equatorial forest than those to the north. ![]() Using genomic data from 2,000 individuals from 57 populations throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, a research team from the Institut Pasteur and the CNRS, led by CNRS scientists Etienne Patin and Lluis Quintana-Murci in close collaboration with several African, European and American institutions, have now shed new light on the question. Yet question marks have always remained as to the exact migratory route taken by these peoples: while a first theory known as "early split" claimed that the Bantu populations immediately divided into two groups on leaving their homeland, one heading east and one south, the "late split" theory suggests that Bantu speakers actually began by traversing the equatorial forest (today part of Gabon), before dividing into two migration waves, one continuing south and the other to East Africa. This was the start of a millennia-long journey that resulted in these populations settling throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. Mastering this new skill enabled Bantu speakers, previously hunter-gatherers living in the region between Cameroon and Nigeria, to gradually leave their homeland and spread to new areas. Some 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, the emergence of farming marked a major turning point in African history. This research was published on May 5 in the journal Science. Finally, by analyzing the genomes of more than 5,000 African-Americans, the scientists have identified the genetic origins of African populations deported as slaves, and confirmed that the Bight of Benin and West-Central Africa were the main ports used for the slave trade to North America. Their research reveals that the admixture that occurred as a result of successive encounters with local populations enabled the Bantus to acquire genetic mutations that helped them adapt to their new environments. Using data from a vast genomic analysis of more than 2,000 samples taken from individuals in 57 populations throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, scientists from the Institut Pasteur and the CNRS, together with a broad international consortium, have retraced the migratory routes of these populations, previously a source of debate. During a wave of expansion that began 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, Bantu-speaking populations – today some 310 million people – gradually left their original homeland of West-Central Africa and traveled to the eastern and southern regions of the continent. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |