Geneticists have looked at the genetic diversity of many people in Melanesia, and with many different objectives in mind. Much work has been done to know whether Melanesian peoples have a genetic resistance to malaria, like those of other parts of the world where malaria is a serious health risk. They have found that indeed they do, and this is a subject of much ongoing research. Recently, geneticists have used modern molecular technology (which looks at the details of parts of the DNA of each person) to answer questions about ancestry and population relationships. The results…more complicated than we thought!!!!!!!!!
Many studies
of the variation in mtDNA have been carried out. MtDNA is transmitted only
through the maternal line, and thus can give us some information about the
origins and relatedness of women and their children. Geneticists have observed
that a particularly common feature of the mtDNA of Polynesians (the loss of
9 base pairs) can be traced to their Southeast Asian ancestors, since the
same feature is observed in the mtDNA of small numbers of people in Southeast
Asia. Tracing this genetic feature among Melanesian populations could give
an indication of the extent of gene flow in the last 4000 years between the
incoming Austronesian peoples and the original inhabitants of the islands.
The results
obtained show that the dispersing Austronesian women (with the 9bp mtDNA deletion)
contributed to the genetic make-up of Melanesian groups in the northern coast
of New Guinea, in its easternmost tip, and in the Bismarck Archipelago, as well
as the first colonisation of Remote Oceania (Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Fiji).
In contrast with the mtDNA, the genes contained in the Y-chromosome are transmitted
through patrilines. Studies of the Y-chromosome variation in Melanesian groups
have found unexpected results. The y-chromosome mutations of Papuans and Polynesians
are quite different, as one would expect in groups of such different evolutionary
histories. However, rather than observing Polynesian/Austronesian male genes
in the Papuan groups (similar to the female genes), what geneticists have found
is a significant genetic contribution of Papuan men into the gene pool of the
Austronesian speakers who first colonised Remote Oceania.
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Research into the genetic variation of Melanesian peoples is being carried out by several research teams, including the geneticists involved in the project "Pioneers of Island Melanesia"
