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Queen’s researchers help sequence first ancient Irish human genomes  

16 January 2016

A team of archaeologists from Queen’s and geneticists from Trinity College Dublin have sequenced the first genomes from ancient Irish humans. The information buried within is already answering pivotal questions about the origins of Ireland’s people.

The team sequenced the genome of an early farmer woman, who lived near Belfast some 5,200 years ago, and those of three men from Rathlin Island from the Bronze Age 4,000 years ago, after the introduction of metalworking. Their landmark results were published in international journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA.

Ireland has intriguing genetics. It lies at the edge of many European genetic gradients with world maxima for the variants that code for lactose tolerance, the western European Y chromosome type, and several important genetic diseases including one of excessive iron retention, called haemochromatosis. 

However, the origins of this heritage are unknown. The only way to discover our genetic past is to sequence genomes directly from ancient people, by embarking on a type of genetic time travel.

Migration has been a hot topic in archaeology. Opinion has been divided on whether the great transitions in the British Isles, from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to one based on agriculture and later from stone to metal use, were due to local adoption of new ways or whether these influences were derived from influxes of new people. 

Dr Eileen Murphy, Senior Lecturer in Osteoarchaeology at Queen’s said: “It is clear that this project has demonstrated what a powerful tool ancient DNA analysis can provide in answering questions which have long perplexed academics regarding the origins of the Irish.”

Dan Bradley, Professor of Population Genetics in Trinity College Dublin and who led the study, said: “There was a great wave of genome change that swept into Europe from above the Black Sea into Bronze Age Europe and we now know it washed all the way to the shores of its most westerly island and this degree of genetic change invites the possibility of other associated changes, perhaps even the introduction of language ancestral to western Celtic tongues.” 

Whereas the early farmer had black hair, brown eyes and more resembled southern Europeans, the genetic variants circulating in the three Bronze Age men from Rathlin Island had the most common Irish Y chromosome type, blue eye alleles and the most important variant for the genetic disease, haemochromatosis. 

The latter C282Y mutation is so frequent in people of Irish descent that it is sometimes referred to as a Celtic disease. This discovery therefore marks the first identification of an important disease variant in prehistory.

Media inquiries to Queen’s Communications Office or call 028 9097 3087.

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