Genetics and Appearance of Mainland Greeks

[catgeorge]

Genetic studies using multiple autosomal gene markers, Y chromosomal DNA haplogroup analysis and mitochondrial gene markers (mtDNA) show that Greeks share similar backgrounds as the rest of the Europeans and especially southern Europeans (Italians and southern Balkan populations). According to the studies using multiple autosomal gene markers, Greeks are some of the earliest contributors of genetic material to the rest of the Europeans as they are one of the oldest populations in Europe.(Cavalli-Sforza, Luigi Luca; Menozzi, Paolo; Piazza, Alberto (1996). The History and Geography of Human Genes. Princeton University Press. pp. 255–301. ISBN 978-0691029054.)

A study in 2008 showed that Greeks are genetically closest to Italians and Romanians Lao, Oscar; et al. (2008). "Correlation between genetic and geographic structure in Europe". Current Biology. 18 (16): 1241–1248. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2008.07.049. PMID 18691889.

Another 2008 study showed that they are close to Italians, Albanians, Romanians and southern Slavs. Novembre, John; et al. (2008). "Genes mirror geography within Europe". Nature. 456 (7218): 98–101. Bibcode:2008Natur.456...98N. doi:10.1038/nature07331. PMC 2735096. PMID 18758442.

A 2010 study showed that Greeks cluster with other South European (mainly Italians) and are close to the Basques, Ayub, Q (2003). "Reconstruction of human evolutionary tree using polymorphic autosomal microsatellites". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 122 (3): 259–268. doi:10.1002/ajpa.10234. PMID 14533184.

FST distances showed that they group with other European and Mediterranean populations especially with Italians (−0.0001) and Tuscans (0.0005). Tian, Chao; et al. (2009). "European Population Genetic Substructure: Further Definition of Ancestry Informative Markers for Distinguishing Among Diverse European Ethnic Groups". Molecular Medicine. 15 (11–12): 371–383. doi:10.2119/molmed.2009.00094. PMC 2730349. PMID 19707526.

Y DNA studies show that Greeks cluster with other Europeans and carry some of the oldest Y haplogroups in Europe, in particular the J2 haplogroup and E haplogroups, which are genetic markers denoting early farmers.

Cemino, Ornella; et al. (2004). "Origin, Diffusion, and Differentiation of Y-Chromosome Haplogroups E and J: Inferences on the Neolithization of Europe and Later Migratory Events in the Mediterranean Area". Am. J. Hum. Genet. 74 (5): 1023–1034. doi:10.1086/386295. PMC 1181965. PMID 15069642.

Di Gaetano, Cornelia; et al. (2009). "Differential Greek and northern African migrations to Sicily are supported by genetic evidence from the Y chromosome". European Journal of Human Genetics. 17 (1): 91–99. doi:10.1038/ejhg.2008.120. PMC 2985948. PMID 18685561.

Sarno, Stefania; et al. (2014). "An Ancient Mediterranean Melting Pot: Investigating the Uniparental Genetic Structure and Population History of Sicily and Southern Italy". PLOS One. 9 (4): e96074. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...996074S. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0096074. PMC 4005757. PMID 24788788.



The Y-chromosome lineage E-V13 appears to have originated in Greece or the southern Balkans and is high in Greeks as well as in Albanians, southern Italians and southern Slavs. E-V13 is also found in Corsicans and Provencals, where an admixture analysis estimated that 17% of the Y-chromosomes of Provence is attributed to Greek colonization but found at very low frequencies on the Anatolian mainland. These results suggest that E-V13 may trace the demographic and socio-cultural impact of Greek colonization in Mediterranean Mainland Europe, a contribution that appears to be considerably larger than that of a Neolithic pioneer colonization.

King, Roy J.; et al. (2011). "The coming of the Greeks to Provence and Corsica: Y-chromosome models of archaic Greek colonization of the western Mediterranean". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 11: 69. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-11-69. PMC 3068964. PMID 21401952.

Richards, Martin; et al. (2002). "In search of geographical patterns in European mitochondrial DNA". Am. J. Hum. Genet. 71 (5): 1168–1174. doi:10.1086/342930. PMC 385092. PMID 12355353.

A study in 2008 showed that Greek regional samples from the mainland cluster with those from the Balkans while Cretan Greeks cluster with the central Mediterranean and Eastern Mediterranean samples.

King, Roy J.; et al. (2008). "Differential Y-chromosome Anatolian influences on the Greek and Cretan Neolithic". Annals of Human Genetics. 72 (Pt 2): 205–214.

Greek signature DNA influence can be seen in Southern Italy and Sicily, where the genetic contribution of Greek chromosomes to the Sicilian and the Southern Balkans gene pool to be about 37%.

Cemino, Ornella; et al. (2004). "Origin, Diffusion, and Differentiation of Y-Chromosome Haplogroups E and J: Inferences on the Neolithization of Europe and Later Migratory Events in the Mediterranean Area". Am. J. Hum. Genet. 74 (5): 1023–1034. doi:10.1086/386295. PMC 1181965. PMID 15069642.

Di Gaetano, Cornelia; et al. (2009). "Differential Greek and northern African migrations to Sicily are supported by genetic evidence from the Y chromosome". European Journal of Human Genetics. 17 (1): 91–99. doi:10.1038/ejhg.2008.120. PMC 2985948. PMID 18685561.

Studies using mitochondrial DNA gene markers (mtDNA) showed that Greeks group with other Mediterranean European populations and principal component analysis (PCA) confirmed the low genetic distance between Greeks and Italians and also revealed a cline of genes with highest frequencies in the Balkans and Southern Italy, which Cavalli-Sforza associates it with "the Greek expansion, which reached its peak in historical times around 1000 and 500 BC but which certainly began earlier".

Cavalli-Sforza, Luigi Luca; Piazza, Alberto (1993). "Human genomic diversity in Europe: a summary of recent research and prospects for the future". Eur J Hum Genet. 1 (1): 3–18. doi:10.1159/000472383. PMID 7520820.



A 2017 study on the genetic origins of the Minoans and Mycenaeans showed that modern Greeks resemble the Mycenaeans, but with some additional dilution of the early neolithic ancestry. The results of the study support the idea of genetic continuity between these civilizations and modern Greeks but not isolation in the history of populations of the Aegean, before and after the time of its earliest civilizations.

Science Magazine, 2 August 2017, "The Greeks really do have near-mythical origins, ancient DNA reveals".

Live Science, 3 August 2017, More than Myth: Ancient DNA Reveals Roots of 1st Greek Civilizations

Katherine Lindemann, DNA analysis traces origins of Minoans and Mycenaeans, ResearchGate, 2 August 2017


Appearance

A study from 2013 for prediction of hair and eye colour from DNA of the Greek people showed that the reported phenotype frequencies according to hair and eye colour categories was as follows: 119 individuals – hair colour, 11 blond, 45 dark blond/light brown, 49 dark brown, 3 brown red/auburn and 11 had black hair; eye colour, 18 with blue, 21 with intermediate (green, heterochromia) and 33 hazel and 56 had brown eye colour.

Walsh, Susan; et al. (January 2013). "The HIrisPlex System for Simultaneous Prediction of Hair and Eye Colour from DNA". Forensic Science International: Genetics. 7 (1): 98–115. doi:10.1016/j.fsigen.2012.07.005. PMID 2291781

Another study from 2012 included 150 dental school students from the University of Athens, and the results of the study showed that light hair colour (blonde/light ash brown) was predominant in 12.7% of the students. 36% had medium hair colour (light brown/medium darkest brown), 32% had darkest brown and 9% black . In conclusion, the hair colour of young Greeks are mostly brown, ranging from light to dark brown . The same study also showed that the eye colour of the students was 18.6% blue/green, 28% hazel/green intermediate and 52.4% brown.

Lagouvardos, Panagiotis E.; Tsamali, Ioana; Papadopoulou, Christine; Polyzois, Gregory (2012). "Tooth, Skin, Hair and Eye Colour Interrelationships in Greek Young Adults". Odontology. 101 (1): 75–83. doi:10.1007/s10266-012-0058-1. PMID 22349932.

[Adamg]

Appearance

A study from 2013 for prediction of hair and eye colour from DNA of the Greek people showed that the reported phenotype frequencies according to hair and eye colour categories was as follows: 119 individuals
– hair colour, 11 blond,
45 dark blond/light brown,
49 dark brown,
3 brown red/auburn
and 11 had black hair;

Bullshit. About 50% blond and light brown?

[catgeorge]

Bullshit. About 50% blond and light brown?

Its how Greeks interpret it.. its actually light brown.

Go and argue with the researchers insedeous creature, since you know more.

[ninjaboy]

The first blond Greeks I saw were in Athens and Corfu. The first blond and blue-eyed Italians I have met was in North- Italy. It was really strange seeing Germanic looking Italians talking and behaving super Italian. However, there are tons of Italian migrants in Germany but most of them look very East Med the same goes for the Greeks. I was surprised when I was Greece and saw that Greeks were not so swarthy like I expected them to be. Many think that Turks and Greeks look identical but they actually don't. Besides among Southern Europeans Italians have the most blue eyed people. For instance almost half of the native Northern Italians have blue eyes. Germans consider medium or dark brown hair as black. It seems that for Southern Europeans ligth brown hair equals blond but not in Germanic countries. In all fairness light brown hair is closer to dirty blond than deeply brown hair and in the summer it gets even lighter.