USA TODAY 23andMe DNA study traces the 'genetic consequences' of the trans-Atlantic slave trade
Evidence of some of the horrors of the trans-Atlantic slave trade can still be found in the DNA of African Americans today, according to new research.
Researchers from consumer genetics company 23andMe studied genetic data of more than 50,000 people and compared it to historical documentation of where people were taken from in Africa, and where they were enslaved in the Americas, said Steven Micheletti, a population geneticist at 23andMe and study co-author.
The genetic results largely matched the historical records, Micheletti said, noting that historians estimated 5.7 million people were taken from West Central Africa and his team found the strongest genetic connection between people in that region.
But researchers also found key differences that may shed light on the brutality of slavery and how it operated different in different regions, according to the study published on Thursday in the American Journal of Human Genetics.
Micheletti, for example, said he was surprised to learn that African Americans have a higher proportion of African ancestry than people of African descent in South America, even though many more enslaved people were sent to South America than the United States.
He said the potential explanation could be "two different horrible practices": In places like Brazil and Cuba, slave owners were more likely to let slaves die than worry about their health, while in the U.S., they would "essentially breed people" to maintain the enslaved workforce.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/dna-study-traces-genetic-consequences-185739733.html
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