Jewish chromosomes in India?

Yair Sheleg:

About five months ago the results of a study performed by a forensic laboratory in India (a kind of local equivalent of Israel's National Forensic Institute at Abu Kabir) were published concerning the genetic origins of the members of the Kuki-Chin-Mizo tribe. The members of the tribe, which lives in northeast India (near the border of Myanmar, formerly Burma), believe they are descendants of the Children of Israel - and, more precisely, descendants of the tribe of Menashe, one of the 10 Lost Tribes that were exiled by the Assyrians in the eighth century B.C.E. and have since disappeared. The study compared DNA samples taken from several hundred members of the tribe and from members of various other recognized Jewish communities, as well as from other tribes living near the Kuki (which served as a control group).

The result of the study is very interesting: On the one hand, no connection was found on the male side of the genetic chain (the Y chromosome) between the genetic profile of the Kuki and the Jewish profile, or the profile of Middle Eastern peoples in general. However, on the female side of the profile (what scientists call mitochondrial DNA) there is a certain resemblance to the genetic profile of Middle Eastern peoples and to that of the Jews of Uzbekistan (who also have a tradition of belonging to the 10 tribes) - a closeness that distinguishes the Kuki from the members of other tribes that live nearby. The research team therefore came to the conclusion, formulated with scientific caution, that the Kuki's claim "cannot be dismissed."

In the news:

India Leftists Fight Bnei Menashe Aliyah

Amar: Bnei Menashe are descendants of ancient Israelites

Around the Blogosphere:

Tracking the genetic imprints of lost Jewish tribes among the gene pool of Kuki-Chin-Mizo population of India

Indians Accepted as Ancient Jews

Lost Tribe Found

"Lost Jews" of India / Myanmar