Genetic study of Greenlanders reveals variants specific to their culture

An international team of geneticists, public health specialists and environmental scientists from Greenland, Denmark and several other countries in Europe has conducted a genetic analysis of Greenlanders to learn more about gene-specific health issues.

In their study published in the journal Nature, the group collected tissue samples from thousands of Greenlanders from all across the country and analyzed them, looking for genetic variations that could be impacting their health. Laura Arbour, with the University of British Columbia, has published a News & Views piece in the same journal issue, outlining the reasons for the work done by the team.

The research team noted that approximately 80% of all human genetic research to date has been carried out on people of European ancestry, which means little has been conducted on people with different backgrounds. They observed that even less work has been done with Greenlanders, people whose ancestors made their way to Greenland approximately 1,000 years ago. Those people were the Inuit, living in what is now Siberia.

Once in Greenland, groups populated different areas, often separated by a landscape too difficult to cross. Thus, many groups lived in isolated communities for hundreds of years before Europeans arrived, which the team noted likely had an impact on their gene pool. To find out if that might be the case, the researchers collected tissue samples from almost 6,000 Greenlanders living all across the country—about 14% of the adult population.

The research team found that the group of early Inuit who had made their way to Greenland was smaller than thought—less than 300 people. They also found that the small group had splintered, with even smaller groups inhabiting remote parts of Greenland’s coast, and that little crossbreeding had occurred between them.

Thus, each group developed some of their own unique genetic variants, many of which were related to the cold, harsh environment, such as genes involved in metabolizing fatty acids—a good thing, since the people survived by eating mostly seal and whale meat.

The research team noted that the Greenlanders do not have any more variants than Europeans—but they do have some that are different. One variant, for example, makes them more susceptible to a certain type of liver disease. And it is these kinds of variants that need to be identified, the group notes, to ensure Greenlanders are getting the best health care possible.

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