Europe: An Unexpectedly Close-Knit Continent

In research conducted by scientists in California, it was found that Europeans

are more genetically similar to one another than was previously thought. Using

genetic information obtained from 2,257 people across Europe, scientists Peter

Ralph and Graham Coop were able to ascertain that even people as far apart as

UK and Turkey share genetic similarities. This can be traced back to a group of

ancestors that many Europeans share. These ancestors came to the continent 6,500

years ago, which is earlier than previously thought. It is through these shared

ancestors in the not-so-distant past that Europeans across the continent are connected,

and considered “one big family.” This finding, however, is said by researchers to

not mean much in terms of peace between groups. For example, if anti semitic white

supremacists from one country find that they are related to Ashkenazi Jewish people,

it is unlikely that these Anti Semitic people will change their ways just because they

discover that they are related to Ashkenazi Jewish people.



















Although the findings of this research would prove to be surprising to some,

I personally am not surprised by these findings. I’ve heard the theory before

that everyone on Earth is related to everyone through five points of connection,

whether it’s through a friend’s family member, or a friend’s friend’s friend. I have

also heard that many people are the descendents of the Islamic prophet, Muhammed,

including the current queen of England. I have a friend who is a descendent of the

prophet Muhammed, and this would mean that he is related to the queen of England.

If my friend and the queen of England are so close in relation, I find it easy to believe

that the people of Europe are related to one another, and I find it understandable that

although these people are related, bad blood will likely not disappear. Bad relations

between family are easy to come by, after all.

                                                            Is Europe One Big Family?

Research has been done in order to study the genetic relatedness of European people. It was found that people from the U.K. and Turkey shared a large amount of genetic material. Researchers Peter Ralph and Graham Coop used the genomic data of 2,257 Europeans to represent the continent as a whole. In another study DNA was collected from ancient skeletons and it was discovered that people that these class of DNA came from immigrants that were responsible for the genetic makeup of what we know is Europe today. Ralph and Coop as well as other scientists involved in such studies confirmed that each and every individual on this planet is genetically related, even if it is an extremely small percentage. They did, however, note that the ancestry between different types of Europeans was not equally shared.

The article brings into focus that although all of Europe shares similar genetic material, people classify themselves as different and often hold their own prejudices. Besides their genetic relatedness their views on a different population would not change, and therefore cause people to be skeptical about the results of the research despite the evidence given. In all, I feel that this research has shown that although different nationalities appear to look extremely different from each other and have select features that are common within that nationality, looking at one's raw DNA proves that human beings have a common ancestor. This research serves as further evidence on evolution and how mankind evolved from a common ancestor.

Primary Article: http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/08/genetics-reveal-europe-is-one-big-family/

Secondary Article: http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=10557