Genetic map of Russians. The genetic map of Great Britain opened a window into the past The genetic map of all the peoples of the world

We constantly hear that Russians are not a people united by blood, related by blood, but a conglomerate of people united by a common culture and territory. Everyone remembers Putin's catchphrases“There are no pure Russians!” and “scratch every Russian, you will certainly find a Tatar.”

They say that we are “very different in blood”, “we did not sprout from the same root”, but were a melting pot for the Tatar, Caucasian, German, Finnish, Buryat, Mordovian and other peoples who have ever raided, entered, strayed on our land, and we received them all, let them into the house, took them into our family.

This has become almost an axiom among politicians who are blurring the concept of Russian, and at the same time for everyone it has become an entrance ticket to the environment of the Russian people.

This approach, raised to the flag by numerous Russophobic a la “human rights” organizations and Russian Russophobic media outlets, has filled the airwaves. But, sooner or later, Putin and others like him will have to answer for their words of humiliation of the Russian people. The scientists' verdict is merciless:

1) In 2009, a complete “reading” (sequencing) of the genome of a representative of the Russian ethnic group was completed. That is, the sequence of all six billion nucleotides in the Russian human genome has been determined. His entire genetic makeup is now in full view.

(The human genome consists of 23 pairs of chromosomes: 23 from the mother, 23 from the father. Each chromosome contains one DNA molecule formed by a chain of 50-250 million nucleotides. The genome of a Russian man was sequenced. The decoding of the Russian genome was carried out on the basis of the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute", on the initiative of Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute" Mikhail Kovalchuk According to information received in. Russian Academy Sciences, the Kurchatov Institute spent approximately $20 million on the purchase of sequencing equipment alone. The National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute” has a recognized scientific status in the world.)

It is known that this is the seventh deciphered genome beyond the Ural ridge: before that there were Yakuts, Buryats, Chinese, Kazakhs, Old Believers, Khanty. That is, all the prerequisites for the first ethnic map of Russia have been created. But all of these were, so to speak, composite genomes: pieces assembled after deciphering the genetic material different representatives the same population.

The complete genetic portrait of a particular Russian man is only the eighth in the world. Now there is someone to compare Russians with: an American, an African, a Korean, a European...

“We did not find any noticeable Tatar additions in the Russian genome, which refutes theories about the destructive influence of the Mongol yoke,” emphasizes the head of the genomic direction at the Kurchatov Institute Research Center, academician Konstantin Scriabin. -Siberians are genetically identical to Old Believers, they have one Russian genome. There are no differences between the genomes of Russians and Ukrainians - one genome. Our differences with the Poles are negligible.”

Academician Konstantin Scriabin believes that “in five to six years a genetic map of all peoples of the world will be drawn up - this is a decisive step towards understanding the susceptibility of any ethnic group to medicines, diseases and products.” Feel what it costs... Americans in the 1990s gave the following estimates: the cost of sequencing one nucleotide is $1; according to other sources - up to 3-5 dollars.

(Sequencing (spell reading) genetic code) mitochondrial DNA and human Y-chromosome DNA - the most advanced methods of DNA analysis today.. Mitochondrial DNA is passed down through the female line from generation to generation almost unchanged since the time when the “ancestor of mankind Eve” climbed down from the tree in East Africa. And the Y chromosome is present only in men and therefore is also passed on to male offspring almost unchanged, while all other chromosomes, when transmitted from father and mother to their children, are shuffled by nature, like a deck of cards before being dealt. Thus, unlike indirect signs ( appearance, body proportions), sequencing of mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome DNA indisputably and directly indicate the degree of relatedness of people.)

2) Outstanding anthropologist, researcher of human biological nature, A.P. Bogdanov in late XIX century wrote: “We often use expressions: this is purely Russian beauty, this is the spitting image of a hare, a typically Russian face. One can be convinced that it is not something fantastic, but something real that lies in this general expression Russian physiognomy. In each of us, in the sphere of our “unconscious”, there is a fairly definite concept of the Russian type” (A.P. Bogdanov, “Anthropological physiognomy.” M., 1878).

A hundred years later, and now the modern anthropologist V. Deryabin, using the latest method of mathematical multidimensional analysis of mixed characteristics, comes to the same conclusion: “The first and most important conclusion is to state the significant unity of Russians throughout Russia and the impossibility of identifying even the corresponding regional types, clearly limited from each other” (“Questions of Anthropology.” Issue 88, 1995). How is this Russian anthropological unity expressed, the unity of hereditary genetic characteristics expressed in the appearance of a person, in the structure of his body?

First of all, hair color and eye color, the shape of the skull structure. According to these characteristics, we Russians differ from both the European peoples and the Mongoloids. And we cannot be compared with Negroes and Semites at all, the differences are too striking. Academician V.P. Alekseev proved a high degree of similarity in the structure of the skull among all representatives of the modern Russian people, while clarifying that the “Proto-Slavic type” is very stable and has its roots in the Neolithic era, and, possibly, the Mesolithic. According to the calculations of the anthropologist Deryabin, light eyes (gray, gray-blue, light blue and blue) are found in 45 percent of Russians, in Western Europe Only 35 percent are light-eyed. Dark, black hair among Russians occurs in five percent of the population foreign Europe– in 45 percent. The popular opinion about the “snub nose” of Russians is also not confirmed. 75 percent of Russians have a straight nose profile.

Conclusion of anthropologists:
“In terms of their racial composition, Russians are typical Caucasians, who, according to most anthropological characteristics, occupy a central position among the peoples of Europe and are distinguished by slightly lighter pigmentation of their eyes and hair. It should also be recognized that there is significant unity racial type Russians throughout European Russia.”
“A Russian is a European, but a European with characteristics peculiar only to him. physical signs. These signs make up what we call a typical hare.”

Anthropologists have seriously scratched the Russian, and - there is no Tatar, that is, a Mongoloid, in the Russians. One of the typical signs of a Mongoloid is the epicanthus - a Mongolian fold at the inner corner of the eye. In typical Mongoloids, this fold occurs in 95 percent; in a study of eight and a half thousand Russians, such a fold was found in only 12 people, and in its rudimentary form.

Another example. Russians literally have special blood - the predominance of groups 1 and 2, which is evidenced by many years of practice at blood transfusion stations. Among Jews, for example, the predominant blood type is 4, and the negative Rh factor is more common. During biochemical blood tests, it turned out that Russians, like everyone else, to the European peoples, is characterized by a special gene RN-c, this gene is practically absent in Mongoloids (O.V. Borisova “Polymorphism of erythrocyte acid phosphatase in various population groups Soviet Union" "Issues of Anthropology". Vol. 53, 1976).

It turns out that no matter how you scratch a Russian, you still won’t find a Tatar or anyone else in him. This is confirmed by the encyclopedia “Peoples of Russia”, in the chapter “Racial Composition of the Population of Russia” it is noted: “Representatives of the Caucasian race make up more than 90 percent of the country’s population and another 9 percent are representatives of forms mixed between Caucasoids and Mongoloids. The number of pure Mongoloids does not exceed 1 million people.” (“Peoples of Russia”. M., 1994).

It is easy to calculate that if there are 84 percent Russians in Russia, then all of them are exclusively people of the European type. The peoples of Siberia, the Volga region, the Caucasus, and the Urals represent a mixture of European and Mongolian races. This was beautifully expressed by anthropologist A.P. Bogdanov in the 19th century, studying the peoples of Russia, he wrote, refuting from his far, far away today’s myth that the Russians poured foreign blood into their people during the eras of invasions and colonization:

“Perhaps many Russians married natives and became sedentary, but the majority of the primitive Russian colonizers throughout Rus' and Siberia were not like that. They were a trading, industrial people, who cared about organizing themselves according to their own, in accordance with the ideal of well-being they had created for themselves. And this ideal of the Russian person is not at all such that he can easily twist his life with some kind of “trash,” just as even now Russian people often dishonor the non-religious. He will do business with him, will be affectionate and friendly with him, will become friendly with him in everything, except to become related, to introduce a foreign element into his family. For this, ordinary Russian people are still strong, and when it comes to the family, to the roots of their home, then they have a kind of aristocracy. Often villagers of different tribes live in the same neighborhood, but marriages between them are rare.”

For thousands of years, the Russian physical type remained stable and unchanged, and was never a cross between different tribes that at times inhabited our land. The myth is dispelled, we must understand that the call of blood is not an empty phrase, that our national idea of the Russian type is the reality of the Russian breed. We must learn to see this breed, admire it, appreciate it in our near and distant Russian relatives. And then, perhaps, ours will be reborn Russian appeal to complete strangers, but to our own people - father, mother, brother, sister, son and daughter. After all, we are actually all from a single root, from one clan - the Russian clan.

3) Anthropologists were able to identify the appearance of a typical Russian person. To do this, they had to transfer to a single scale all the photographs from the photo library of the Museum of Anthropology with full-face and profile images of typical representatives of the population of the Russian regions of the country and, combining them by the pupils of the eyes, superimpose them on each other. The final photographic portraits turned out, naturally, blurry, but they gave an idea of the appearance of the standard Russian people. This was the first truly sensational discovery. After all, similar attempts by French scientists led to a result that they had to hide from the citizens of their country: after thousands of combinations from the resulting photographs of the reference Jacques and Marianne, gray faceless ovals of faces were seen. Such a picture, even among the most distant Frenchmen from anthropology, could raise an unnecessary question: is there even a French nation?

Unfortunately, anthropologists did not go further than creating photographic portraits of typical representatives of the Russian population different areas countries and did not superimpose them on each other in order to obtain the appearance of an absolute Russian person. In the end, they were forced to admit that such a photo could get them into trouble at work. By the way, “regional” sketches of Russian people were published in the general press only in 2002, and before that they were published in small editions only in scientific publications for specialists. Now you can judge for yourself how similar they are to the typical cinematic Ivanushka and Marya.

Unfortunately, mostly black and white old archival photographs of the faces of Russian people do not allow us to convey the height, build, color of skin, hair and eyes of a Russian person. However, anthropologists have created verbal portrait Russian men and women. They are of average build and average height, light brown-haired with light eyes - gray or blue. By the way, during the research a verbal portrait of a typical Ukrainian was also obtained. The standard Ukrainian differs from the Russian only in the color of his skin, hair and eyes - he is a dark brunette with with the right features faces and brown eyes. A snub nose turned out to be completely uncharacteristic of Eastern Slav(found only in 7% of Russians and Ukrainians), this symptom is more typical for Germans (25%).

4) In 2000, the Russian Foundation basic research» allocated approximately half a million rubles from state budget funds for the study of the gene pool of the Russian people. It is impossible to implement a serious program with such funding. But this was more of a landmark decision than just a financial decision, indicating a change in the country’s scientific priorities. For the first time in the country, scientists from the Laboratory of Human Population Genetics of the Medical Genetics Center of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, who received a grant from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, were able to completely focus for three years on studying the gene pool of the Russian people, and not small nations. And limited funding only spurred their ingenuity. They supplemented their molecular genetic research with an analysis of the frequency distribution of Russian surnames in the country. This method was very cheap, but its information content exceeded all expectations: a comparison of the geography of surnames with the geography of genetic DNA markers showed their almost complete coincidence.

Unfortunately, interpretations of family analysis that appeared in the media after the first publication of data in a specialized scientific journal could create a false impression about the goals and results of the scientists’ enormous work. The project leader, Doctor of Sciences Elena Balanovskaya, explained that the main thing was not that the surname Smirnov turned out to be more common among Russian people than Ivanov, but that for the first time a complete list of truly Russian surnames was compiled by region of the country. First, lists were compiled for five conditional regions - Northern, Central, Central-Western, Central-Eastern and Southern. In total, across all regions there were about 15 thousand Russian surnames, most of which were found only in one of the regions and were absent in others. When superimposing regional lists on top of each other, scientists identified a total of 257 so-called “all-Russian surnames.” It is interesting that at the final stage of the study they decided to add the names of residents to the list of the Southern region Krasnodar region, expecting that the predominance of Ukrainian surnames of the descendants of the Zaporozhye Cossacks, evicted here by Catherine II, would significantly reduce the all-Russian list. But this additional restriction reduced the list of all-Russian surnames by only 7 units - to 250. From which followed the obvious and not pleasant conclusion that Kuban was populated mainly by Russian people. Where did the Ukrainians go and were they even here at all is a big question.

Over the course of three years, participants in the “Russian Gene Pool” project walked around almost the entire European territory of the Russian Federation with a syringe and a test tube and made a very representative sample of Russian blood.

However, cheap indirect methods of studying the genetics of the Russian people (by surnames and dermatoglyphics) were only auxiliary for the first study in Russia of the gene pool of the titular nationality. His main molecular genetic results are available in the monograph “Russian Gene Pool” (Luch Publishing House). Unfortunately, due to a lack of government funding, scientists had to carry out part of the research together with foreign colleagues, who imposed a moratorium on many results until joint publications were published. scientific press. Nothing prevents us from describing these data in words. Thus, according to the Y chromosome, the genetic distance between Russians and Finns is 30 conventional units. And the genetic distance between Russian people and the so-called Finno-Ugric peoples (Mari, Vepsians, etc.) living on the territory of the Russian Federation is 2-3 units. Simply put, genetically they are almost identical. The results of mitochondrial DNA analysis show that the Russians from the Tatars are at the same genetic distance of 30 conventional units that separates us from the Finns, but between the Ukrainians from Lviv and the Tatars the genetic distance is only 10 units. And at the same time, Ukrainians from the left bank of Ukraine are genetically as close to the Russians as the Komi-Zyrians, Mordovians and Maris.

Based on materials from http://www.genofond.ru, http://www.cell.com/AJHG/, http://www.yhrd.org, http://narodinfo.ru, http://www.vechnayamolodost .ru, http://www.medgenetics.ru, http://www.kiae.ru

Researchers created for the first time detailed map genetic structure of UK populations. It turned out that the population of the Celtic territory was not at all genetically homogeneous, and the most ancient gene pool was preserved in Wales. Comparisons of British and Continental European DNA indicated a genetic ancestral profile for each region. In the gene pool of the modern population we were able to see a reflection major events in the history of the settlement of the British Isles.

Studying the genetic differences between modern populations helps us look deeper into history and see the traces of migrations of population groups that formed the modern gene pool. This work was carried out by an international group of researchers led by British specialists from the University of Oxford and University College London, their article was published in the journal Nature on March 19. Walter Bodmer, Peter Donnelly and their colleagues analyzed in detail the genetic structure of the UK population. They not only built a very accurate genetic map of the modern British population, but also found traces of the most important historical migrations and clarified the pattern of settlement of the British Isles.

The gene pool reflects geography

The researchers collected DNA from 2,039 people from different areas of the UK. When choosing, they were guided by the following rule: all third-generation ancestors of a person (both grandmothers and both grandfathers) had to live no further than 80 km from each other. This condition provided a “snapshot” of the genetic structure of the British population of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

To compare DNA, scientists used more than 500 thousand single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) scattered throughout the genome. Their analysis was carried out using the fineSTRUCTURE and GLOBETROTTER statistical methods. These methods sorted DNA samples into clusters based on their similarity, regardless of where in the UK they were collected. And by placing each person's sample at a point midway from their grandparents' birthplaces, they were able to see how genetic similarity correlated with geographic location.

Genetic clusters into which 2039 DNA samples from UK populations were grouped.

The coincidence turned out to be amazing. As can be seen in the figure, 17 genetic clusters were distributed on the map in accordance with the geographical location of the samples taken. Different clusters practically do not overlap. And since these clusters were formed from all samples, without taking into account their geography, this means that this correspondence reflects the real genetic diversity of the population, the authors emphasize.

The population of the county of Orkney on the Orkney Islands north of Scotland turned out to be the most genetically diverse; it includes three clusters. Genetic differences emerge clearly between different areas of the UK: northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland together differ from southern England, northern Wales differs from southern England, and Cornwall forms a separate cluster. The boundaries of the clusters often coincide with the modern boundaries of historical provinces, for example, on the border of Cornwall and Devon, on the border of England and Wales. The largest cluster (indicated on the map by red squares) covers most of central and southern England and the east coast. It combines almost half of the DNA samples included in the study.

The authors constructed a phylogenetic tree of British populations, showing how clusters were formed and how the main branches were separated. As the tree shows, the Orkney branch of the population split off at the earliest stage, followed by Wales at the next stage. Subsequent forks in the tree led to the separation of north and south Wales, the separation of northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland from the rest of England, and the separation of Cornwall from the remaining clusters.

Thus, the idea of the genetic homogeneity of the Celtic populations of Great Britain as the most ancient, not influenced by the Saxon migration, was not confirmed. On the contrary, the Celtic part of Great Britain (Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and Cornwall) turned out to be much more genetically diverse than the rest of the territory.

Despite the fact that the clusters within the British population stood out so clearly, when scientists measured the genetic distance between them, it turned out to be small (average 0.002, maximum 0.007). This means that the observed differences are very subtle and can only be seen with strong "magnification", which is what the researchers created using powerful statistical method. For comparison, they analyzed their data using standard methods—principal component analysis (PCA) and ADMIXTURE. Both methods showed the separation of the Orkney and Welsh lineages, but did not reveal the finer genetic structure of the population.

Continental footprint in the British genome

Genetic differences within the British population may result from the isolation of certain population groups from each other, but also reflect the contribution of different migrations and the process of mixing of migrants with the indigenous population. To sort out the latter, the researchers used the same method to compare DNA samples from the British population with samples from more than 6,000 continental Europeans from 10 countries. These samples were divided into 51 groups based on genetic similarity.

European genetic profiles for 17 UK clusters.

For each British cluster, scientists assessed the contribution of each continental group and determined the genetic profile of the ancestors. The analysis showed that some European groups, such as those from western Germany, Flemish Belgium, northwestern France, southern France and Spain, contributed significantly to the origins of almost all British clusters. Others contributed only to some specific clusters, for example, the Norwegian ones had a significant influence on the formation of clusters in Orkney and less in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The gene pool reflects history

Genetic data has shown traces of migrations to the British Isles over the past 10 thousand years. Based on the nature of the influence of continental groups on British clusters, researchers distinguish the relative timing of migration events. Those groups whose contribution is found in all clusters obviously indicate more ancient migrations. Enough time has passed since then for their haplotypes to spread to other parts of Great Britain. The continental footprint in individual clusters is apparently the result of more recent migrations.

Major events in the settlement of the British Isles.

The most noticeable mark was left by the conquest of Britain by the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century. The genetic contribution of Anglo-Saxon migration is significant in south-eastern, central and southern England, although nowhere does it exceed 50%, and in most areas it ranges from 10 to 40%. This indicates that the Anglo-Saxons did not completely displace the local population of the Britons (Celts), but mixed with them. Some clusters coincide topographically with the territories of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and clans. It seems that these territories retained their ethnographic and genetic identity for many centuries, the researchers emphasize.

In the populations of the Orkney Islands, 25% of the gene pool is attributed to ancestors of Norse origin, these are traces of the invasion of the islands by the Norwegian Vikings, which occurred in the 9th century. Genetic data also indicate that the Norwegian Vikings did not displace the indigenous population, but mixed with it. But clear genetic traces of the Danish Vikings, who at the same time controlled a significant part of England, could not be found.

As for the earliest settlement of the British Isles - after the end of the last glaciation - its traces are best preserved in the populations of Wales. Evidence also points to significant subsequent migration from the continent, even before the conquest of Britain by the Roman Empire at the beginning of the first millennium AD. The genetic influence of this migration spread across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but largely bypassed Wales, which has the most ancient gene pool.

The authors of the study convincingly showed how genetics can complement and clarify archaeological and linguistic information in order to reconstruct the history of populations. Smart selection of source data and powerful statistical methods helped them obtain a detailed genetic map of the country and look into the past of the British population.

Source:

The fine-scale genetic structure of the British population

Stephen Leslie, Bruce Winney, Garrett Hellenthal, Dan Davison, Abdelhamid Boumertit, Tammy Day, Katarzyna Hutnik, Ellen C. Royrvik, Barry Cunliffe, Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, International Multiple Sclerosis Genetics Consortium, Daniel J. Lawson, Daniel Falush, Colin Freeman, Matti Pirinen, Simon Myers, Mark Robinson, Peter Donnelly & Walter Bodmer

Nature, 2015, v.519, 7543, doi:10.1038/nature14230

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v519/n7543/full/nature14230.html

We constantly hear that Russians are not a people united by blood, related by blood, but a conglomerate of people united by a common culture and territory. Everyone remembers Putin’s catchphrases “There are no pure Russians!” and “scratch every Russian, you will certainly find a Tatar.”

This has become almost an axiom among politicians who are blurring the concept of Russian, and at the same time for everyone it has become an entrance ticket to the environment of the Russian people.

This approach, raised to the flag by numerous Russophobic a la “human rights” organizations and Russian Russophobic media outlets, has filled the airwaves. But, sooner or later, the President and others like him will have to answer for their words of humiliation of the Russian people. The scientists' verdict is merciless:

(The human genome consists of 23 pairs of chromosomes: 23 from the mother, 23 from the father. Each chromosome contains one DNA molecule formed by a chain of 50-250 million nucleotides. The genome of a Russian man was sequenced. The decoding of the Russian genome was carried out on the basis of the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute", on the initiative of Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute" Mikhail Kovalchuk According to information received from the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Kurchatov Institute spent approximately $20 million on the purchase of sequencing equipment alone. National Research. The Kurchatov Institute center has a recognized scientific status in the world.)

The complete genetic portrait of a particular Russian man is only the eighth in the world. Now there is someone to compare Russians with: an American, an African, a Korean, a European...

(Sequencing (reading the genetic code) of mitochondrial DNA and the DNA of the human Y chromosome is the most advanced DNA analysis method to date. Mitochondrial DNA is passed down through the female line from generation to generation practically unchanged since the time when “the ancestor of mankind, Eve "came down from the tree in East Africa. And the Y chromosome is present only in men and therefore is also passed on to male offspring almost unchanged, while all other chromosomes, when transmitted from father and mother to their children, are shuffled by nature, like a deck of cards before being dealt. Thus. , in contrast to indirect signs (appearance, body proportions), sequencing of mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome DNA indisputably and directly indicate the degree of relatedness of people.)

2) Outstanding anthropologist, researcher of human biological nature, A.P. Bogdanov wrote at the end of the 19th century: “We often use expressions: this is purely Russian beauty, this is the spitting image of a hare, a typically Russian face. One can be convinced that it is not something fantastic, but something real that lies in this general expression Russian physiognomy. In each of us, in the sphere of our “unconscious”, there is a fairly definite concept of the Russian type” (A.P. Bogdanov, “Anthropological physiognomy.” M., 1878).

First of all, hair color and eye color, the shape of the skull structure. According to these characteristics, we Russians differ from both the European peoples and the Mongoloids. And we cannot be compared with Negroes and Semites at all, the differences are too striking. Academician V.P. Alekseev proved a high degree of similarity in the structure of the skull among all representatives of the modern Russian people, while clarifying that the “Proto-Slavic type” is very stable and has its roots in the Neolithic era, and, possibly, the Mesolithic. According to the calculations of the anthropologist Deryabin, light eyes (gray, gray-blue, light blue and blue) are found in 45 percent of Russians, while in Western Europe only 35 percent are light-eyed. Dark, black hair is found in five percent of Russians, and in 45 percent of the population of foreign Europe. The popular opinion about the “snub nose” of Russians is also not confirmed. 75 percent of Russians have a straight nose profile.

Conclusion of anthropologists:
“In terms of their racial composition, Russians are typical Caucasians, who, according to most anthropological characteristics, occupy a central position among the peoples of Europe and are distinguished by slightly lighter pigmentation of their eyes and hair. One should also recognize the significant unity of the Russian racial type throughout European Russia.”
“A Russian is a European, but a European with physical characteristics unique to him. These signs make up what we call a typical hare.”

Another example. Russians literally have special blood - the predominance of groups 1 and 2, which is evidenced by many years of practice at blood transfusion stations. Among Jews, for example, the predominant blood type is 4, and the negative Rh factor is more common. During biochemical studies of blood, it turned out that Russians, like all European peoples, are characterized by a special gene RN-c, this gene is practically absent in Mongoloids (O.V. Borisova “Polymorphism of erythrocyte acid phosphatase in various population groups of the Soviet Union.” “Questions of Anthropology ". Issue 53, 1976).

For thousands of years, the Russian physical type remained stable and unchanged, and was never a cross between different tribes that at times inhabited our land. The myth is dispelled, we must understand that the call of blood is not an empty phrase, that our national idea of the Russian type is the reality of the Russian breed. We must learn to see this breed, admire it, appreciate it in our near and distant Russian relatives. And then, perhaps, our Russian appeal to complete strangers, but our own people for us - father, mother, brother, sister, son and daughter - will be revived. After all, we are actually all from a single root, from one clan - the Russian clan.

Unfortunately, anthropologists did not go beyond creating photographic portraits of typical representatives of the Russian population of different regions of the country and did not superimpose them on each other in order to obtain the appearance of an absolute Russian person. In the end, they were forced to admit that such a photo could get them into trouble at work. By the way, “regional” sketches of Russian people were published in the general press only in 2002, and before that they were published in small editions only in scientific publications for specialists. Now you can judge for yourself how similar they are to the typical cinematic Ivanushka and Marya.

Unfortunately, mostly black and white old archival photographs of the faces of Russian people do not allow us to convey the height, build, color of skin, hair and eyes of a Russian person. However, anthropologists have created a verbal portrait of Russian men and women. They are of average build and average height, light brown-haired with light eyes - gray or blue. By the way, during the research a verbal portrait of a typical Ukrainian was also obtained. The standard Ukrainian differs from the Russian only in the color of his skin, hair and eyes - he is a dark brunette with regular facial features and brown eyes. A snub nose turned out to be absolutely uncharacteristic of an Eastern Slav (found in only 7% of Russians and Ukrainians); this feature is more typical for Germans (25%).

4) In 2000, the Russian Foundation for Basic Research allocated approximately half a million rubles from state budget funds for the study of the gene pool of the Russian people. It is impossible to implement a serious program with such funding. But this was more of a landmark decision than just a financial decision, indicating a change in the country’s scientific priorities. For the first time in Russian history, scientists from the Laboratory of Human Population Genetics of the Medical Genetics Center of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, who received a grant from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, were able to focus entirely on studying the gene pool of the Russian people, rather than small nations, for three years. And limited funding only spurred their ingenuity. They supplemented their molecular genetic research with an analysis of the frequency distribution of Russian surnames in the country. This method was very cheap, but its information content exceeded all expectations: a comparison of the geography of surnames with the geography of genetic DNA markers showed their almost complete coincidence.

Unfortunately, interpretations of family analysis that appeared in the media after the first publication of data in a specialized scientific journal could create a false impression about the goals and results of the scientists’ enormous work. The project leader, Doctor of Sciences Elena Balanovskaya, explained that the main thing was not that the surname Smirnov turned out to be more common among Russian people than Ivanov, but that for the first time a complete list of truly Russian surnames was compiled by region of the country. First, lists were compiled for five conditional regions - Northern, Central, Central-Western, Central-Eastern and Southern. In total, across all regions there were about 15 thousand Russian surnames, most of which were found only in one of the regions and were absent in others. When superimposing regional lists on top of each other, scientists identified a total of 257 so-called “all-Russian surnames.” It is interesting that at the final stage of the study they decided to add surnames of residents of the Krasnodar Territory to the list of the Southern region, expecting that the predominance of Ukrainian surnames of the descendants of the Zaporozhye Cossacks evicted here by Catherine II would significantly reduce the all-Russian list. But this additional restriction reduced the list of all-Russian surnames by only 7 units - to 250. From which followed the obvious and not pleasant conclusion that Kuban was populated mainly by Russian people. Where did the Ukrainians go and were they even here at all is a big question.

However, cheap indirect methods of studying the genetics of the Russian people (by surnames and dermatoglyphics) were only auxiliary for the first study in Russia of the gene pool of the titular nationality. His main molecular genetic results are available in the monograph “Russian Gene Pool” (Luch Publishing House). Unfortunately, due to a lack of government funding, the scientists had to carry out part of the research together with foreign colleagues, who imposed a moratorium on many of the results until joint publications were published in the scientific press. Nothing prevents us from describing these data in words. Thus, according to the Y chromosome, the genetic distance between Russians and Finns is 30 conventional units. And the genetic distance between Russian people and the so-called Finno-Ugric peoples (Mari, Vepsians, etc.) living on the territory of the Russian Federation is 2-3 units. Simply put, genetically they are almost identical. The results of mitochondrial DNA analysis show that the Russians from the Tatars are at the same genetic distance of 30 conventional units that separates us from the Finns, but between the Ukrainians from Lviv and the Tatars the genetic distance is only 10 units. And at the same time, Ukrainians from the left bank of Ukraine are genetically as close to the Russians as the Komi-Zyrians, Mordovians and Maris.

Genetic analysis has long been firmly established among routine procedures in such applied fields of knowledge as forensics and medicine. Improving methods for recognizing genetic markers, as a rule, finds application in fundamental scientific problems.

For example, thanks to new technical solutions there was mtDNA fully sequenced prehistoric man of the Neanderthal type, and in the near future scientists hope to decipher his complete nuclear genome and compare it with the human one. Our own history is increasingly being revealed to us not through archaeological finds, but through genetic analysis methods. For example, we learned the approximate chronology of the settlement of the Earth and found out that at the very early stage of its development, humanity was almost disappeared from the face of the Earth due to drought.

However, data encoded in several billion nucleotides of DNA can tell much more about both a specific person and humanity as a whole. John Novembre from the University of California at Los Angeles and his colleagues showed how a large-scale genetic analysis of more than three thousand Europeans has already revealed the structure of the population of Europe and learned how genetically different representatives of small European states are.

Now scientists can determine the place of origin of any European with an accuracy of several hundred kilometers only on the basis of his DNA.

There are many mathematical methods for solving this not entirely clearly formulated problem; The most common method in genetics is the principal component method, which allows one to determine such “axes” in a multidimensional data array along which the differences between genomes are most noticeable. Novembre and his colleagues took advantage of this, limiting themselves to two such axes.

Having placed almost one and a half thousand points on the plane, they saw a picture strikingly reminiscent political map Europe.

The Portuguese and Spanish genomes were on this map to the left of the French ones, the Germans were to the right, the “Italians” were located under the French, and the British were above them. Fortunately, you can rotate the resulting map as you like - this does not change the geometric relationships between the positions of the points. So the scientists could only compare the genetic graph with a geographic map - the so-called clinality according to the composite parameter corresponding to the main axis - and determine that the most important “principal component” corresponds to the south-southeast - north-northwest axis, and precisely in this form and present the map to your colleagues.

"Genetic map of Europe" by John Novembre and colleagues. Below right is a less dramatic result of similar work by Manfred Kaiser, published a month ago. // John November/M.Kaiser

Of course, the final map was not without flaws. Not only did individual genomes spread far beyond the borders of the countries corresponding to them. The Russians were placed on this graph among the Czechs and Poles, finding themselves much “west” of the Ukrainians, and the Slovaks generally fell deep under the Alps, appearing at the very end of the Italian “boot”. However, this may be explained by the peculiarities of the meager sample of both: there were only six Russians in the initial data, and there was only one Slovak.

However, using only this map, the homeland of 90% of people can be indicated with an accuracy of 700 km, and 50% - up to 300 km.

This is despite the fact that 200 thousand “letters” of DNA are less than 0.01% of the entire human genetic code.

The graph also clearly shows that the genetic diversity of Southern Europeans is much greater than that of northern peoples. This data according to Novembra himself, is easily explained by the history of human settlement in Europe. After the appearance of Homo sapiens here 35 thousand years ago, only 15 thousand years later, with the retreat of the glaciers, the first mass migration of peoples to the north took place, and another 10 thousand years later, with the advent of agriculture, new groups of southerners went north, who all these millennia represented impressive, well-formed populations.

By the way, similar Job, based largely on the same genetic data, was published in the journal Current Biology a month ago. It is worth noting that its leader, Manfred Kaiser, managed to obtain a similar, although not so juicy, picture using the same principal component method. That analysis involved two and a half thousand genomes carefully assembled by GlaxoSmithKline, a company that hunts for genes responsible for side effects from people taking various medications.

“Genetic map” of the Swiss population // John Novembre

However, the principal component method in both cases was unable to divide Europeans into separate genetic clusters. In other words, the genetic diversity of Europeans is so low that even half a million mononucleotide polymorphisms are not enough to divide just three thousand people into small subgroups.

“We sometimes like to talk about “Russian genes”, “Polish genes” or “Tatar” genes. But this article clearly shows us that there are no such genes!”

- Oleg Balanovsky, one of the main domestic experts in genogeography from the Laboratory of Human Population Genetics of the Medical Genetic Research Center of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, commented on these works to Gazeta.Ru, well known to our readers.

“Only by studying one hundred thousand genes, the authors were able (and then with an error of several hundred kilometers) to determine the probable places of origin of the studied Europeans. It is impossible to do this with one gene or even with a hundred genes! - says Balanovsky. — There is no one gene characteristic of the population of a given country. Only a combination of hundreds of thousands of genes is more or less specific.

This means that the reasoning of those who fear impact on the gene pool of the people through its specific genes."

“We have been waiting for such an article for a long time. Technologies that make it possible to analyze a million genetic markers are several years old. And in this article, these new technologies are finally applied to study the gene pool of Europe,” the scientist continues. — This work perfectly shows the continuity in science: after all, when 10-15 years ago work appeared on mitochondrial DNA (maternal line of inheritance) and the Y chromosome (paternal line of inheritance), the first breakthrough also occurred in the gene pool of Europe, and even a conclusion about the importance Geography in ordering the gene pool was done the same as now.”

According to Balanovsky, today’s technologies make it possible to achieve unprecedented reliability and accuracy of results: “What forty years ago genetics could barely discern in a thick fog, what ten years ago began to be illuminated by two powerful fog lights (mitochondrial DNA and the Y chromosome), we are now beginning to see the same thing in the light of a million weaker lights (genes, although less informative, are numerous and distributed throughout the genome).”

“The next and final step - complete, one hundred percent illumination - can be expected in a few years, when complete sequencing of the entire genome becomes available - not a million nucleotides, as now, but all the billions existing in the genome,” predicts a domestic specialist.

In his opinion, the only question that arises is whether it is necessary to wait for such detailed data. After all, already now “our two powerful lights (mitochondrial DNA and the Y chromosome) and a million weaker lights (but distributed throughout the genome) allow us to see the structure of the gene pool of humanity and draw both fundamental scientific and applied conclusions.”

What worries the scientist is the fact that so far the number of genes studied in the genome is much greater than the number of people in whom these genes have been studied.

“Only the study of the gene pool - the entire set of genes - makes it possible to study the genetics of a people in order to help doctors make diagnoses, and all people to trace the history of their people or their own family,” concluded Oleg Balanovsky.