Sept. 14, 2016 -- The genetic origin of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau habitants dates back to the Last Glacial Maximum (about 40,000 to 60,000 years ago), according to a newly released study by Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

 

The study was conducted by a research group led by Xu Shuhua who is a research fellow of the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences of the CAS. Its results have been published on the online journal American Journal of Human Genetics.

 

"Arguments have been thrown on the origin and evolution of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau people for a long time and extensive discussions and researches have been conducted, yet there is still no definite conclusion," said Xu.

 

Thanks to the Tibetan full DNA sequencing technology and the genetic information of about 200 modern peoples and a few extinct ancient peoples around the world, Xu’s group examined genomes of 33 Tibetans and 5 Sherpas, and rebuilt the history of origin, genetic communication and evolution of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau people. 

 

"The origin and evolution history of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau people will help clarify human genetic diversity and its evolution mechanism, which is crucial to the human evolution history researches," added Xu.