Genetic study sheds light on Jewish diaspora Scientists have shed light on Jewish history with an in-depth genetic study. The researchers analysed genetic samples from 14 Jewish communities across the world and compared them with those from 69 non-Jewish populations. Their study, published in Nature, revealed that most Jewish populations were "genetically closer" to each other than to their non-Jewish neighbours. It also revealed genetic ties between globally dispersed Jews and non-Jewish populations in the Middle East. This fits with the idea that most contemporary Jews descended from ancient Hebrew and Israelite residents in the Middle Eastern region known as the Levant. It provides a trace of the Jewish diaspora. Doron Behar from Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa, Israel, led an international team of scientists in the study. He described it as a form of "genetic archaeology". "It seems that most Jewish populations and therefore most Jewish individuals are closer to each other [at the genetic level], and closer to the Middle Eastern populations, than to their traditional host population in the diaspora," he explained. There were exceptions to this key finding, though, as Dr Behar explained. He said that his research revealed that Ethiopian and Indian Jewish communities were genetically closer to their neighbouring non-Jewish populations. And there you go.
There have been two recent scientific research publications on the genetic relatedness of the Jewish diaspora: and.... Here are some scientific news coverage of these findings: Nature news: Jews worldwide share genetic ties Nature blog: Genes link Jewish communities, take 2
