Y chromosome haplotypes reveal prehistorical migrations to the Himalayas

By using 19 Y chromosome biallelic markers and 3 Y chromosome microsatellit e markers, we analyzed the genetic structure of 31 indigenous Sino-Tibetan speaking populations (607 individuals) currently residing in East, Southeas t, and South Asia. Our results showed that a T to C mutation at locus M122 is highly prevalent in almost all of the Sino-Tibetan populations, implying a strong genetic affinity among populations in the same language family. F urthermore, the extremely high frequency of H8, a haplotype derived from M1 22C, in the Sino-Tibetan speaking populations in the Himalayas including Ti bet and northeast India indicated a strong bottleneck effect that occurred during a westward and then southward migration of the founding population o f Tibeto-Burmans. We, therefore, postulate that the ancient people, who liv ed in the upper-middle Yellow River basin about 10,000 years ago and develo ped one of the earliest Neolithic cultures in East Asia, were the ancestors of modem Sino-Tibetan populations.