Genghis Khan is still with us!
genghis Khan -- the fearsome Mongolian warrior -- not only ruled the largest empire of the world, but even managed to pass on his biological traits to almost 0.5 per cent of today's male population, an international group of researchers has found.
Such a startling impact on a population can be attributed to a 'special set of circumstances' -- harems, endless rape victims and concubines. "It is the first documented case when human culture has caused a single genetic linage to increase to such an enormous extent in a few hundred years," says Spencer Wells, one of the 23 co-researchers involved in the study.
The researchers did an analysis of the y-chromosome samples collected over a period of 10 years from more than 40 populations living in and around the former Mongolian empire. They focussed on the y-chromosome because it is passed unchanged from father to son, except for very rare mutations. Geneticists can go back in time and trace the mutations to the point at which they occurred, defining an unique lineage of descent.
In this particular instance, the lineage originated 1,000 years ago. But the researchers do not ascribe the mutations to Khan, who was born around 1,162 years ago. They say that the mutations may have been passed on to Khan by his great grandfather. This uncertainty would continue to pester us till Khan's grave is found and his dna is analysed.
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