Most men in Europe are descendants of the first farmers who migrated from the Middle East 10,000 years ago, say researchers at the University of Leicester in England who examined the lineage of the Y chromosome. The researchers say their work also supports the idea that farmers spread agriculture by migrating from the Fertile Crescent into hunter-gatherer populations in Europe.
Researchers examined the frequency of a certain common lineage of the Y chromosome, called haplogroup R1b1b2, carried by about 110 million European men.
The Y chromosome, responsible for creating males, is passed from fathers to their sons. Men carry one X chromosome and one Y; women have two Xs.
The researchers used databases of DNA gathered from men all over Europe, from Ireland to Turkey, and determined how frequently the lineage occurred in different parts of the Continent.
You can read more on CBC at http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/01/19/tech-dna-male-europe-farmers.html.
My thanks to Tim Ryeland for telling me about this article.
Now, I have a dumb question: How can anyone say that "European Males Descend from Mideast Farmers?" Does that mean that European FEMALES do not? If not, how is that possible? Can someone explain that to me?
