COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Molecular Perspectives on Aleut Origins

University Of Kansas Center For Research Inc, Lawrence KS

Investigators

Abstract

The proposed collaboration between PI O'Rourke, University of Utah, and PI's Crawford and West, University of Kansas, is to continue interdisciplinary research on Aleut populations through genetics, archaeology, and cultural anthropological methods. The proposed research builds on a previous project in the Aleutians looking at mtDNA in both modern and ancient populations. This project proposes to expand on the previous research with increased sampling and analysis of Y-chromosome polymorphisms. The research will potentially bring greater scientific understanding of the nature of the evolutionary relationships between prehistoric and modern Aleuts and other North American and Siberian groups. In addition, it will provide new insights into the question of the origins of the modern Aleut population specifically and potentially the original colonization of the Americas.