<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > So if such a breakdown of DNA based on probabilities is possible, could > there be marked differences between Goan castes and Hindu Goans > vs. Catholic Goans?
>From Frederick "FN" Noronha >As far as the differences between Goan Hindus and Catholics go, both >come from similar backgrounds ... and virtually all Hindu castes are >represented among the Catholic population too. So it's tough to see >how differences could be at that level. My comments: It is true that Hindu & Catholic Goans came from similar backgrounds but over the last 500 years there have been offspring from unions of the Portuguese and Goans. The percentages of such liaisons were probably greater among upper caste Catholic Goans leading to differences not only between castes but also on lines of religion. I am grateful to Santosh for answering my queries. This prompted me to look at other sources and readers may be interested in the following review article: The Indian Genome Variation database (IGVdb): a project overview [Website: www.igib.res.in] Brahmachari, SK and others. Human Genetics 118 (1): 1-11 OCT 2005 Abstract and full text of article at http://www.springerlink.com/content/l42668824122gk12/ For further reading check the links at Google Scholar: http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=India*+Caste*+DNA&hl=de&lr=&btnG=Suche&l r= and Pub Med: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Display&itool=ab stractplus&dopt=pubmed_pubmed&from_uid=11381027 Some references: 1. Bamshad M, and others. Genetic evidence on the origins of Indian caste populations. Genome Res. 2001 Jun;11(6):994-1004. Excerpt: "Collectively, all five datasets show a trend toward upper castes being more similar to Europeans, whereas lower castes are more similar to Asians." 2. Cordaux R, and others. Independent origins of Indian caste and tribal paternal lineages Curr Biol. 2004 Feb 3;14(3):231-5. Links 3. Watkins WS, and others. Multiple origins of the mtDNA 9-bp deletion in populations of South India. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1999 Jun;109(2):147-58. 4. Baig MM and others. Mitochondrial DNA diversity in tribal and caste groups of Maharashtra (India) and its implication on their genetic origins. Ann Hum Genet. 2004 Sep; 68(Pt 5):453-60. 5 Roy, Sangita. Mitochondrial DNA variation in ranked caste groups of Maharashtra (India) and its implication on genetic relationships and orig. Ann Hum Biol. 2003 Jul-Aug;30(4):443-54. 6. Bamshad, M & others. mtDNA variation in caste populations of Andhra Pradesh, India 1996. Hum Biol. 1996 Feb;68(1):1-28 There have been studies of castes in some Indian states using DNA techniques. I cannot find any done in Goa. There is, of course, the book published by the Anthropological Survey of India in 1993: People of India - Goa. 283 pages. Popular Prakashan. ISBN 81 7154 761 3. Eddie Fernandes _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list Goanet@lists.goanet.org http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org