The study also found thousands of previously undocumented genetic variants capable of disrupting how certain genes function. Some were tied to hearing loss, kidney failure, chronic liver disease, and cardiovascular conditions.
Large Genetic Databases Still Skew Toward Europe
Most genetic databases still heavily skew toward people of European ancestry, leaving blind spots in how disease risk is understood across the world.
The project also produced a new genomic resource called JEWEL, short for the Japanese Encyclopedia of Whole-Genome/Exome Sequencing Library. By pairing DNA with medical histories and clinical records, the database could one day help researchers understand why certain diseases and medications affect populations differently.
Even within populations often treated as genetically uniform, much older migration stories may still be hiding in the DNA.
Read More: DNA Solves 166-Year-Old Franklin Expedition Mystery as HMS Terror Sailor Identified
Article Sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:
- This article includes information from a study published in Science Advances: Decoding triancestral origins, archaic introgression, and natural selection in the Japanese population by whole-genome sequencing
