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Archiver > DNA-NEWBIE > 2008-03 > 1206709827


From: Lynne <>
Subject: [DNA-NEWBIE] Crusaders 'left genetic legacy'
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2008 09:10:27 -0400


>From the BBC:

> Scientists have detected the faint genetic traces left by medieval crusaders in the Middle East.
>
> The team says it found a particular DNA signature which recently appeared in Lebanon and is probably linked to the crusades.
>
> The finding comes from the Genographic Project, a major effort to track human migrations through DNA.
>
> Details of the research have been published in the American Journal of Human Genetics.
>
> The researchers found that some Christian men in Lebanon carry a DNA signature hailing from Western Europe.
>
> The scientists also found that Lebanese Muslim men were more likely than Christians to carry a particular genetic signature. But this one is linked to expansions from the Arabian Peninsula which brought Islam to the area in the 7th and 8th Centuries.
>
> But they emphasise that the differences between the two communities are minor, and that Christians and Muslim Arabs in Lebanon overwhelmingly share a common heritage.
>

See the entire article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7316281.stm



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