New study says over 109 million East Africans have Asian and European DNA

This research has shown that at least 25% of the people from East Africa have strong ties to these two continents.

The African Exponent reports that this study is based on the first-ever DNA sequencing carried out on the skull of the 4,500-year old 'Mota man'. This skull was reportedly found in an Ethiopian cave.

According to the report, "East African populations today have as much as 25 per cent Eurasian ancestry from this event".

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How Asian and European DNA got to Eastern Africa

This event is the large migration that happened from Western Eurasia to Eastern Africa about 3,000 years ago. At the time, these immigrants made about one-third of the entire population in the African region.

As a result of this research, at least 109 million East Africans of the current population of the entire region, estimated at 437,690,591 by the United Nations, are believed to carry both Asian and European DNA.

Reacting to the report, Dr Andrea Manica, senior author of the study, from the University of Cambridge said: “Roughly speaking, the wave of West Eurasian migration back into the Horn of Africa could have been as much as 30 per cent of the population that already lived there – and that, to me, is mind-blowing."

He added, "With an ancient genome, we have a direct window into the distant."

The findings of this research have been published in the Journal Science.

New study says over 109 million East Africans have Asian and European DNA

A new study says over 109 million East Africans have Asian and European DNA.

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