Who Are the Jews?
The world’s 13 million Jews are strongly linked by religion and culture. But do they share a common genetic heritage? Two new studies conclude that most members of the far-flung Jewish Diaspora can trace their roots to ancestors who lived in the Middle East more than 2000 years ago. The new research, based on recent advances in genome technology, apparently refutes controversial claims that most of today’s Jews descend from more recent converts. And it finds that Jews in Ethiopia and India who also claim origins in ancient Israel are more distantly related to other Jewish groups.
Miehael Balte, “News of the Week, Human Geneties:
Who Are the Jews? Genetie Studies Spark Identity Debate”
Seienee, 11 June 2010, Volume 328, Number 5984, page 1342