My first Magazine SFI Little Book - April Re-print edits included | Page 45

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Who we are and
where we came from…
Genetic inheritance is not just relevant in bats though,
just ask the team of geneticists from Trinity College
Dublin and archaeologists from Queen’s University
Belfast who have sequenced the first genomes from
ancient Irish humans. The remains uncovered in 2
settlements near Belfast are dated at 5,200 and 4,000
years old, placing them in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages
respectively. The information buried within the genomes
has provided answers to pivotal questions about the
origins of Ireland’s people and their culture, including
the prevalence of the condition haemochromatosis,
often known as a “Celtic Disease” due to the frequency of
the associated genetic mutation in the Irish population.
www.tcd.ie
www.qub.ie