50,000 years of evolutionary history of India: Impact on health and disease variation

India has been underrepresented in genomic surveys. We generated whole-genome sequences from 2,762 individuals in India, capturing the genetic diversity across most geographic regions, linguistic groups, and historically underrepresented communities. We find most Indians harbor ancestry primarily fr...

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Main Author: Skov, Laurits (author)
Other Authors: Patterson, Nick (author), Banerjee, Joyita (author), Khobragade, Pranali (author), Chakrabarti, Sankha S. (author), Chakrawarty, Avinash (author), Chatterjee, Prasun (author), Dhar, Minakshi (author), Gupta, Monica (author), John, John P. (author), Koul, Parvaiz A. (author), Lehl, Sarabmeet S. (author), Mohanty, Rashmi R. (author), Padmaja, Mekala (author), Perianayagam, Arokiasamy (author), Rajguru, Chhaya (author), Sankhe, Lalit (author), Talukdar, Arunansu (author), Varghese, Mathew (author), Yadati, Sathyanarayana Raju (author), Zhao, Wei (author), Leung, Yuk Yee (author), Schellenberg, Gerard D. (author), Wang, Yi Zhe (author), Smith, Jennifer A. (author), Dey, Sharmistha (author), Ganna, Andrea (author), Dey, Aparajit Ballav (author), Kardia, Sharon L.R. (author), Lee, Jinkook (author), Moorjani, Priya (author), Kerdoncuff, Elise (author)
Format: article
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2025.04.027
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867425004623
http://hdl.handle.net/10576/66664
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author Skov, Laurits
author2 Patterson, Nick
Banerjee, Joyita
Khobragade, Pranali
Chakrabarti, Sankha S.
Chakrawarty, Avinash
Chatterjee, Prasun
Dhar, Minakshi
Gupta, Monica
John, John P.
Koul, Parvaiz A.
Lehl, Sarabmeet S.
Mohanty, Rashmi R.
Padmaja, Mekala
Perianayagam, Arokiasamy
Rajguru, Chhaya
Sankhe, Lalit
Talukdar, Arunansu
Varghese, Mathew
Yadati, Sathyanarayana Raju
Zhao, Wei
Leung, Yuk Yee
Schellenberg, Gerard D.
Wang, Yi Zhe
Smith, Jennifer A.
Dey, Sharmistha
Ganna, Andrea
Dey, Aparajit Ballav
Kardia, Sharon L.R.
Lee, Jinkook
Moorjani, Priya
Kerdoncuff, Elise
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
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author
author
author
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author
author
author
author_facet Skov, Laurits
Patterson, Nick
Banerjee, Joyita
Khobragade, Pranali
Chakrabarti, Sankha S.
Chakrawarty, Avinash
Chatterjee, Prasun
Dhar, Minakshi
Gupta, Monica
John, John P.
Koul, Parvaiz A.
Lehl, Sarabmeet S.
Mohanty, Rashmi R.
Padmaja, Mekala
Perianayagam, Arokiasamy
Rajguru, Chhaya
Sankhe, Lalit
Talukdar, Arunansu
Varghese, Mathew
Yadati, Sathyanarayana Raju
Zhao, Wei
Leung, Yuk Yee
Schellenberg, Gerard D.
Wang, Yi Zhe
Smith, Jennifer A.
Dey, Sharmistha
Ganna, Andrea
Dey, Aparajit Ballav
Kardia, Sharon L.R.
Lee, Jinkook
Moorjani, Priya
Kerdoncuff, Elise
author_role author
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Skov, Laurits
Patterson, Nick
Banerjee, Joyita
Khobragade, Pranali
Chakrabarti, Sankha S.
Chakrawarty, Avinash
Chatterjee, Prasun
Dhar, Minakshi
Gupta, Monica
John, John P.
Koul, Parvaiz A.
Lehl, Sarabmeet S.
Mohanty, Rashmi R.
Padmaja, Mekala
Perianayagam, Arokiasamy
Rajguru, Chhaya
Sankhe, Lalit
Talukdar, Arunansu
Varghese, Mathew
Yadati, Sathyanarayana Raju
Zhao, Wei
Leung, Yuk Yee
Schellenberg, Gerard D.
Wang, Yi Zhe
Smith, Jennifer A.
Dey, Sharmistha
Ganna, Andrea
Dey, Aparajit Ballav
Kardia, Sharon L.R.
Lee, Jinkook
Moorjani, Priya
Kerdoncuff, Elise
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025-07-29T11:48:44Z
2025-06-26
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2025.04.027
Kerdoncuff, E., Skov, L., Patterson, N., Banerjee, J., Khobragade, P., Chakrabarti, S. S., ... & Moorjani, P. (2025). 50,000 years of evolutionary history of India: Impact on health and disease variation. Cell, 188(13), 3389-3404.‏
0092-8674
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867425004623
http://hdl.handle.net/10576/66664
3389-3404
13
188
1097-4172
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv en
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv genomic diversity in India
South Asian evolutionary history
ancient gene flow
founder events
Neanderthal ancestry
Denisovan ancestry
functional variation
adaptation
disease susceptibility
peopling of India
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv 50,000 years of evolutionary history of India: Impact on health and disease variation
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv Article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
description India has been underrepresented in genomic surveys. We generated whole-genome sequences from 2,762 individuals in India, capturing the genetic diversity across most geographic regions, linguistic groups, and historically underrepresented communities. We find most Indians harbor ancestry primarily from three ancestral groups: South Asian hunter-gatherers, Eurasian Steppe pastoralists, and Neolithic farmers related to Iranian and Central Asian cultures. The extensive homozygosity and identity-by-descent sharing among individuals reflects strong founder events due to a recent shift toward endogamy. We uncover that most of the genetic variation in Indians stems from a single major migration out of Africa that occurred around 50,000 years ago, followed by 1%–2% gene flow from Neanderthals and Denisovans. Notably, Indians exhibit the largest variation and possess the highest amount of population-specific Neanderthal ancestry segments among worldwide groups. Finally, we discuss how this complex evolutionary history has shaped the functional and disease variation on the subcontinent.
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
format article
id qu_5fd38d9e9eaa2ff3e87521ba3616462b
identifier_str_mv Kerdoncuff, E., Skov, L., Patterson, N., Banerjee, J., Khobragade, P., Chakrabarti, S. S., ... & Moorjani, P. (2025). 50,000 years of evolutionary history of India: Impact on health and disease variation. Cell, 188(13), 3389-3404.‏
0092-8674
3389-3404
13
188
1097-4172
language_invalid_str_mv en
network_acronym_str qu
network_name_str Qatar University repository
oai_identifier_str oai:qspace.qu.edu.qa:10576/66664
publishDate 2025
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository_id_str
rights_invalid_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
spelling 50,000 years of evolutionary history of India: Impact on health and disease variationSkov, LauritsPatterson, NickBanerjee, JoyitaKhobragade, PranaliChakrabarti, Sankha S.Chakrawarty, AvinashChatterjee, PrasunDhar, MinakshiGupta, MonicaJohn, John P.Koul, Parvaiz A.Lehl, Sarabmeet S.Mohanty, Rashmi R.Padmaja, MekalaPerianayagam, ArokiasamyRajguru, ChhayaSankhe, LalitTalukdar, ArunansuVarghese, MathewYadati, Sathyanarayana RajuZhao, WeiLeung, Yuk YeeSchellenberg, Gerard D.Wang, Yi ZheSmith, Jennifer A.Dey, SharmisthaGanna, AndreaDey, Aparajit BallavKardia, Sharon L.R.Lee, JinkookMoorjani, PriyaKerdoncuff, Elisegenomic diversity in IndiaSouth Asian evolutionary historyancient gene flowfounder eventsNeanderthal ancestryDenisovan ancestryfunctional variationadaptationdisease susceptibilitypeopling of IndiaIndia has been underrepresented in genomic surveys. We generated whole-genome sequences from 2,762 individuals in India, capturing the genetic diversity across most geographic regions, linguistic groups, and historically underrepresented communities. We find most Indians harbor ancestry primarily from three ancestral groups: South Asian hunter-gatherers, Eurasian Steppe pastoralists, and Neolithic farmers related to Iranian and Central Asian cultures. The extensive homozygosity and identity-by-descent sharing among individuals reflects strong founder events due to a recent shift toward endogamy. We uncover that most of the genetic variation in Indians stems from a single major migration out of Africa that occurred around 50,000 years ago, followed by 1%–2% gene flow from Neanderthals and Denisovans. Notably, Indians exhibit the largest variation and possess the highest amount of population-specific Neanderthal ancestry segments among worldwide groups. Finally, we discuss how this complex evolutionary history has shaped the functional and disease variation on the subcontinent.This work was supported by: - the National Institute on Aging (grant number R01AG051125 , RF1AG055273 , and U01AG065958 ). - the NIA U01AG065958 and NIH R35GM142978. - the NovoNordisk Hallas-M\u00F8ller Emerging Investigator NNF23OC0081723 and U01AG065958.Elsevier2025-07-29T11:48:44Z2025-06-26Articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2025.04.027Kerdoncuff, E., Skov, L., Patterson, N., Banerjee, J., Khobragade, P., Chakrabarti, S. S., ... & Moorjani, P. (2025). 50,000 years of evolutionary history of India: Impact on health and disease variation. Cell, 188(13), 3389-3404.‏0092-8674https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867425004623http://hdl.handle.net/10576/666643389-3404131881097-4172enhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:qspace.qu.edu.qa:10576/666642025-07-29T19:09:32Z
spellingShingle 50,000 years of evolutionary history of India: Impact on health and disease variation
Skov, Laurits
genomic diversity in India
South Asian evolutionary history
ancient gene flow
founder events
Neanderthal ancestry
Denisovan ancestry
functional variation
adaptation
disease susceptibility
peopling of India
status_str publishedVersion
title 50,000 years of evolutionary history of India: Impact on health and disease variation
title_full 50,000 years of evolutionary history of India: Impact on health and disease variation
title_fullStr 50,000 years of evolutionary history of India: Impact on health and disease variation
title_full_unstemmed 50,000 years of evolutionary history of India: Impact on health and disease variation
title_short 50,000 years of evolutionary history of India: Impact on health and disease variation
title_sort 50,000 years of evolutionary history of India: Impact on health and disease variation
topic genomic diversity in India
South Asian evolutionary history
ancient gene flow
founder events
Neanderthal ancestry
Denisovan ancestry
functional variation
adaptation
disease susceptibility
peopling of India
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2025.04.027
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867425004623
http://hdl.handle.net/10576/66664