Lead
In 2016, researchers from RIKEN and other institutions in Japan provided evidence to support the "tripartite origin model" that the Japanese ancestors had three branches by analyzing the whole genome sequencing data of Japanese people on a large scale.
This study challenges the previously widely accepted "binary structure model" that there are only two genetic sources of modern Japanese, one is the Jomon Japanese and the other is the Kansai Japanese, who are closely related to the ancient Chinese.
However, this study shows that the ancestors of the Japanese people are not only from the Jomon and Kansai lines, but also from the Tohoku lineage.
So what exactly is the new evidence?
1. Japan human origins.
In the genomic era, researchers have taken a deeper look at the origins and migrations of humans by analyzing DNA from ancient human remains.
In 2000, Genhiro Tazaki, a researcher at the National Museum of Nature and Science of Japan, conducted a DNA test on the bones of the Jomon period in Japan, and the results showed that the Jomon people had a very high similarity with modern Japanese, and believed that the ancestors of modern Japanese people were Jomon people.
On this basis, the "dualistic structure model" was proposed, arguing that there were two ancestors of modern Japanese, one was the Jomon Japanese and the other was the Kansai Japanese, who were closely related to the ancient Chinese.
However, the study at the National Museum of Nature and Science in Japan was based on DNA testing based on a small number of remains from the Jomon period, so the results of this study were not sufficient to support the power of the "binary structure model".
Since then, Japanese scholars have not conducted any more research on DNA testing of remains from the Jomon period, so the "binary structure model" is only a hypothesis and has not been confirmed by more in-depth research.
However, in 2016, Masahiko Masuda, a researcher at RIKEN, et al., analyzed whole-genome sequencing data from more than 3,000 Japanese people and compared them with people around the world, and came up with evidence that the ancestors of modern Japanese people have three branches.
This study is based on large-scale whole-genome sequencing data, which is a powerful challenge to the "binary structure model".
2. New evidence.
In 2016, Masahiko Masuda, a researcher at RIKEN, and others analyzed the whole genome sequencing data of more than 3,000 Japanese people, which came from 17 regions of Japan, covering almost most of the whole of Japan, so it can be considered a relatively comprehensive study of the whole genome of Japanese people.
In addition, they compared the data to people from all over the world, including people in East Asia such as China, South Korea, Mongolia, and Russia.
Researchers have found that there are three ancestors of modern Japanese.
In comparison with the global population, it was found that the ancestors of modern Japanese people were not only Jomon Japanese and Kansai Japanese, but also a group of Japanese people of the Tohoku lineage.
There is a significant genetic difference between the Japanese of the northern Hodo line of Japan and the Japanese of other parts of Japan, and this difference reflects the fact that the genetic kinship between the Japanese of the Tohoku and Jomon lines is significantly higher than that of the Kansai Japanese.
The high genetic kinship between the Japanese of the Northeast and the Jomon is very likely to be the direct descendants of the Jomon Japanese, that is, the Japanese of the Jomon period migrated from the Northeast region of Japan, while the Japanese in other regions had a deep cultural exchange relationship with the ancient Chinese on the basis of the Jomon period, and eventually formed the Japanese of the Northeast of Japan.
In addition, the researchers also found that the genetic kinship between Jomon Japanese and modern Chinese was higher than that of Kansai Japanese.
This finding differs from the findings of the National Museum of Nature and Science, which found that the genetic affinity between Japanese and Chinese in the Jomon line is very low, while the genetic kinship between Japanese and Chinese in the Kansai system is very high.
Therefore, this discovery gives the impression that the genetic relationship between Japanese and Chinese in the Jomon line is not close, while the genetic relationship between Japanese and Chinese in the Kansai system is very close.
However, this impression is not true, because in the research of RIKEN in Japan, the genetic kinship between Japanese and Chinese in the Jomon line is higher than that between Japanese and Chinese in the Kansai lineage.
However, the high genetic kinship between the Japanese and the Chinese does not mean that their ancestors were Chinese, and it may also be due to the very close genetic relationship between the Chinese and other East Asians, so the genetic relationship between the Chinese and the Japanese of the Jomon family is even closer.
However, this did not prevent the researchers from proposing a new idea based on the results of this study, that is, the ancestors of the Japanese of the Jomon system were ancient Chinese.
However, there is no evidence to support this new way of thinking.
Globally, the distribution of Japanese is mainly a mixture of the three genes of Nordics, East Asians, and Southern Europeans, the Jomon Japanese are mainly East Asian genes, and the Kansai Japanese and Tohoku Japanese and Jomon Japanese are mainly East Asian genes, so the mixed blood of these three ancestors is not three different gene groups, but comes from three different geographical regions.
3. Significance of genomic research.
The study of the human genome provides more and more evidence for human origin and migration, which is of great significance for solving the mystery of human history.
However, the complexity and diversity of human origins and migrations also make it difficult to study human origins and migrations, which also requires interdisciplinary collaboration and more in-depth research.
Human culture and language are also very complex and diverse, and the relationship between them is also very complex, and it is difficult to derive the relationship between human culture and language based on the results of genomic research.
Therefore, interdisciplinary collaboration is needed to conduct multidisciplinary and multifaceted studies such as genomics, archaeology, linguistics, and human geography to reveal the origins and migration processes of people.
epilogue
The results of RIKEN's research show that since the beginning of the new century, Japanese research has begun to develop in a more diverse direction, and people have begun to realize that the origin and formation process of the Japanese are very complex and diverse.
Human history is diverse and intertwined, and we should respect and cherish various cultural heritages, and at the same time, we should explore the stories behind these cultural heritages, which is also the important significance of human history research.
Human genome research on human origin and migration will also provide new perspectives and enlightenment for group differences, identity and other issues in modern society, so we should maintain a positive attitude towards human genome research to enrich human history and culture.