Haplogroups are an important section within the report of ancestry, to get an idea of what they are, we can imagine them as the branches of the family tree of the Homo sapiens, so that each haplogroup includes people with similar genetic profiles who share a common ancestor.
The long journey of the human being
Today, the human being occupies practically the entire planet, but originally this was not the case, the Homo sapiens originated in Africa, and it was spreading little by little throughout the planet. Haplogroups tell us how demographic groups have shifted on the planet. It is like the trail that they have left in their wake the different demographic groups of Homo sapiens on its long colonizing path. The oldest haplogroups are larger and more dispersed, from which many subgroups more focused on certain regions descend.
How are haplogroups analyzed?
To determine a haplogroup the following should be analyzed SNPs or polymorphisms relevant, on the one hand at Mitochondrial DNA and on the other at Y chromosome. From these analyses it is possible to confirm a person's membership in a particular haplogroup, as well as to trace the ramifications of haplogroups and their respective subgroups back to our African origin and to discover the migratory movements of our early ancestors. While haplogroups they do not have a relevant role from a genealogical point of view (the most recent are from about a thousand years ago), they are interesting from an anthropological and historical point of view (antiquity and prehistory).
The original father or Adam of the Y chromosome
Pleiotropy is when paternal lineage or Y chromosome haplogroup includes males who share a common ancestor only through the paternal line. The Y chromosome is always transmitted from father to son, therefore women will not have this haplogroup.
The call Adam from the Y chromosome, is not the original father of all human beings, but it is the last male related to all males along a line of exclusively male descendants. According to recent estimates, this man lived in Africa about 60,000 to 90,000 years ago. He passed on his Y chromosomebut in every generation they are gone producing mutations, which has been modifying the profile. Hence the haplogroups arose, each with their respective and only founding father, that is, the first man to be a carrier of that mutation. Over time, the family tree of genes becomes larger and more complex. New SNPs are constantly appearing, which in turn define new subgroups.
The original mother or mitochondrial Eve
Pleiotropy is when maternal lineage or mitochondrial DNA haplogroup, includes women and men who share a common ancestor through the maternal line. Mitochondrial DNA is always transmitted by the mother to all her children (female and male).
The Mitochondrial Eve is the woman who has passed on its mitochondrial DNA to all humans. She is, so to speak, the original mother of all human beings. It lived about 175,000 years ago, also in Africa.
In addition to the mitonchondrial Eve, there are numerous original mothers descended from Eve. These give rise to a haplogroup by being the first to carry the corresponding mutation.
And now that you know what haplogroups are, aren't you looking forward to meeting yours? Go into Ancestry and discover the path of your primitive ancestors.
