As part of the study, the research team analyzed 100,000 contemporary and 15,000 ancient DNA samples. The researchers looked for what is called mitochondrial DNA inherited from the mother.
Using genetic analyses, the team identified a specific DNA lineage known as D4h, which is found from China to the United States.
This rare line has been identified in 216 living and 39 dead individuals and was transferred from Asia to the Americas during two waves of migration.
The first was between 26,000 and 19,500 years ago, and the last ice age was its coldest and northern China was mostly ice. The next migration period occurred approximately 19,000 to 11,500 years ago, when increasing population numbers may have pushed more people out of China.
The Chinese crossed the sea
The study also suggests that Native American ancestors did not travel through the Bering Strait as previously thought, but migrated northward from China along the Pacific coast.
Finally, they cross the northern part of the ocean into North America, below the Bering Strait.
According to the Chinese researchers, their study shows that the genetic connection of Native Americans with Asia is “more complex than previously suggested.”
“We now plan to collect and analyze Eurasian DNA lines to get a more complete picture of American ancestry,” says DNA researcher King-Beng Kong, one of the researchers.
