Medieval DNA reveals hidden genetic divides that shaped Western Europe
Researchers analyzing ancient and modern genomes from Northern France discovered deep population divisions that persisted for millennia, with significant implications for disease risk mapping across Western Europe. The findings suggest pharmaceutical and medical device companies must account for fine-grained genetic variation within countries—not just between them—to accurately predict drug responses and disease prevalence.
Originaltitel: Human genetic structure in Northwest France provides new insights into West European historical demography
<p>The demographical history of France remains largely understudied despite its central role toward understanding modern population structure across Western Europe. Here, by exploring publicly available Europe-wide genotype datasets together with the genomes of 3234 present-day and six newly sequenced medieval individuals from Northern France, we found extensive fine-scale population structure across Brittany and the downstream Loire basin and increased population differentiation between the northern and southern sides of the river Loire, associated with higher proportions of steppe vs. Neolithic-related ancestry. We also found increased allele sharing between individuals from Western Brittany and those associated with the Bell Beaker complex. Our results emphasise the need for investigating local populations to better understand the distribution of rare (putatively deleterious) variants across space and the importance of common genetic legacy in understanding the sharing of disease-related alleles between Brittany and people from western Britain and Ireland.</p>