http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/article2489303.eceThe Hindu
PATHANAMTHITTA, September 27, 2011 Study says Ezhavas have European paternal lineage
DNA profiling of Kerala population throws up interesting pointers
Ezhavas have more genotypic resemblance to the Jat Sikh population of Punjab and the Turkish populations than to East Asians, indicating a paternal lineage of European origin, according to a DNA- profiling study of the Kerala population. It was done by a team from the Department of Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering at the Sree Buddha College of Engineering at Pattoor, near Pandalam, comprising Seema Nair P, Head of the Department of Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering; Aswathy Geetha, and Chippy Jagannath.
Their academic paper was published in the Croatian Medical Journal (Croat MedJ) in June. The study analysed the short tandem repeat (STR) profile of Y-chromosomes in male blood. Blood samples were collected from 104 unrelated healthy Ezhava men over a period of one year from October 2009.
As many as 98 of the 104 haplotypes (a combination of DNA sequences) examined were found to be unique ones. “Out of the 104 haplotypes, 10 were found identical to the Jat Sikh population of Punjab, which is the greatest number among the Indian populations, and four to the Turkish population, which is the greatest number among the European populations. It further clarifies that the Ezhavas were genetically more similar to the Europeans (60%) than to the East Asians (40%),” report said.
“Due to the geographical position of the Indian Peninsula between Africa, the Pacific, and west and east Eurasia, different populations have moved through its territory. This is why [the] ethnic Indian population shows enormous cultural, linguistic, and genetic diversity.
The long sea coast of Kerala on the southern most part of India has provided a gateway to India for many Asian, European, and Sri Lankan missionaries and traders. Non-tribal communities of Kerala, as shown by a human leukocyte antigen (HLA) analysis, were influenced by Dravidian, Indo-European, and East Asian gene pools.''
The Ezhava population of Kerala has features of European, Central Asian, and East Asian gene pools. Mitochondrial DNA studies validated the presence of two distinct, eastern and western Eurasian-specific lineage groups in India, suggesting at least two separate migration events to India, says the report.
According to K. Sasikumar, chairman of Sree Buddha Education Society, the data would help develop unique genetic fingerprints or a DNA barcode for personal identification, forensic analysis, and so on.
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