Christmas Island DNA reveals its secrets
ABC Science Online
Monday, 16 May 2005
The inhabitants of multicultural Christmas Island originally came
from southern China and Southeast Asia and have tended not to mate
with people of European descent, new genetic research has
found.
Molecular geneticist Dr Cheryl Wise, who was at Edith Cowan
University in Western Australia at the time of the research, and
colleagues report their study online in the American Journal of
Physical Anthropology.
They say their findings may have implications when testing for
inherited conditions more common in people from a particular ethnic
background, like the blood disorder thalassaemia.
Wise and team studied DNA in blood samples from 100 people who were
living on, or were born on, Christmas Island, the tiny Australian
territory 360 kilometres south of the Indonesian capital
Jakarta.
They studied differences and similarities in mitochondrial DNA
(mtDNA), inherited from the mother, and Y chromosome variations,
inherited from the father.
"Mostly Christmas Islanders have come from southern China and
Southeast Asia like Malaysia and Thailand," says Wise, who is now
at the Royal Perth Hospital.
The researchers found similar origins for both men and women.
Something old, something new
The findings confirm historical records of labourers recruited from
China and Malaysia following the discovery of rich phosphate
deposits on the island in the 19th century.
But the genetics study also tells the researchers something new:
people of Christmas Island have generally kept to themselves and
not bred with Europeans.
The 2002 census reports 61% of Christmas Island residents
identified themselves as Chinese, 25% Malay and 14% European.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2005/1367237.htm
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Have the Aussies forgot that Chrismas Island people were
Singaporeans?
Are they trying to erase that fact that they bought the island from
Singapore on the cheap? ( 10 million pounds)
Give back to Singapore lah..... we can have air/naval base, real
resort Casino, chilli crabs........
