News Release

Could USA presidential DNA trail reveal Middle-Eastern origins?

Peer-Reviewed Publication

University of Leicester

DNA testing carried out by University of Leicester geneticists and funded by The Wellcome Trust has thrown new light on the ancestry of one of the USA’s most revered figures, the third President, Thomas Jefferson.

Almost 10 years ago, the University of Leicester team, led by Professor Mark Jobling, together with international collaborators, showed that Thomas Jefferson had fathered at least one of the sons of Sally Hemings, a slave of Jefferson’s.

The work was done using the Y chromosome, a male-specific part of our DNA that passes down from father to son. Jefferson carried a very unusual Y chromosome type, which helped to strengthen the evidence in the historical paternity case.

Now, new techniques have been brought to bear on Jefferson’s Y chromosome, in a study reported in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. The presidential chromosome turns out to belong to a rare class called ‘K2’, which is found at its highest frequency in the Middle East and Eastern Africa, including Oman, Somalia and Iraq. Its closest match was in a man from Egypt. Could this mean that the President had recent ancestry in the Middle East? A careful survey revealed a few K2 chromosomes in France, Spain and England. Together, the K2s form a diverse group that may, in fact, have been in western Europe for many thousands of years.

Further evidence for Jefferson’s British origins come from the finding that two out of 85 randomly recruited men named Jefferson share exactly the same Y chromosome as the President. Prof Jobling said: ‘The two men have ancestry in Yorkshire and the West Midlands, and knew of no historical connection to the USA. They were amazed and fascinated by the link, which connects them into Thomas Jefferson’s family tree, probably about 11 generations ago.’

The ultimate origins of K2 chromosomes remain a mystery, however, and need further investigation: while they may have been present in Europe since the Stone Age, another possibility is that K2s came to Europe with the Phoenicians, an ancient maritime trading culture that spread out across the Mediterranean from their home in what is now Lebanon. The US media has taken up a different theory, leading to the New York Times headline, ‘Jefferson – the first Jewish president?’: European K2 chromosomes may originate in Sephardic (Spanish) Jewish populations, who have their ultimate origins in the Middle East.

Prof Jobling said: ‘When we look closely at large collections of British Y chromosomes we find surprises, like this rare K2 lineage, and the African chromosome that we recently found in a Yorkshireman. These exotic chromosomes remind us of the complexity of British history and prehistory.’

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Note to newsdesk:

For interviews with Professor Mark Jobling or Turi King, of the Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, contact:

THE WELLCOME TRUST

The Wellcome Trust is the largest charity in the UK and the second largest medical research charity in the world. It funds innovative biomedical research, in the UK and internationally, spending around £500 million each year to support the brightest scientists with the best ideas. The Wellcome Trust supports public debate about biomedical research and its impact on health and wellbeing. http://www.wellcome.ac.uk

UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER

The University of Leicester is a member of the 1994 group of universities that share a commitment to research excellence, high-quality teaching and an outstanding student experience.

England's top ranked university for teaching quality and overall satisfaction among universities teaching full-time students – National Student Survey 2005 and 2006. One of just 19 UK universities to feature in the world's top 200- Shanghai Jiao Tong International Index, 2005 and 2006. Shortlisted Higher Education Institution of the Year- inaugural THES awards 2005. Students' Union of the Year award 2005. Founded in 1921, the University of Leicester has 19 000 students from 120 countries. Teaching in 18 subject areas has been graded Excellent by the Quality Assurance Agency, including 14 successive scores; a consistent run of success matched by just one other UK university. Leicester is world renowned for the invention of DNA fingerprinting by Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys and houses Europe's biggest academic Space Research Centre. Ninety per cent of staff are actively engaged in high-quality research, and 13 subject areas have been awarded the highest rating of 5* and 5 for research quality, demonstrating excellence at an international level. The university's research grant income places it among the top 20 UK research universities. The university employs over 3000 people, has a turnover of £167.5 million, covers an estate of 94 hectares and is engaged in a £300m investment programme (among the biggest of any UK university). http://www.leicester.ac.uk


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