http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2009/10/same-science-different-inference/ Tue, 21 May 2013 13:25:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2009/10/same-science-different-inference/#comment-17962 razib Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:15:55 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2009/10/12/same-science-different-inference/#comment-17962 chris, yeah, i think you are right. in terms of total genome content you're gonna exhibit more similarity, since european:european similarity is greater than west african:east african. the main confound would be the amt. of white ancestry in a given black american. some of these charts might help: <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/08/13/0903341106.abstract" rel="nofollow">http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/08/13/0903341106.abstract</a> the rank order in genetic diversity is i think: africa > south asia & mid east > europe & southeast asia > east asia > americas chris, yeah, i think you are right. in terms of total genome content you’re gonna exhibit more similarity, since european:european similarity is greater than west african:east african. the main confound would be the amt. of white ancestry in a given black american. some of these charts might help:
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/08/13/0903341106.abstract
the rank order in genetic diversity is i think:
africa > south asia & mid east > europe & southeast asia > east asia > americas

]]> http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2009/10/same-science-different-inference/#comment-17961 chris Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:09:42 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2009/10/12/same-science-different-inference/#comment-17961 On that "India is 4x more genetically diverse than Europe" -- any idea what definition of Europe is being used? This is a simplistic question, but how much more genetically diverse is Africa than Europe? How do Europe and, say, East Asia compare. My assumption is that Europe and East Asia are probably the least diverse, while sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia are probably the most. This came up in a discussion where I was arguing that I, a pasty white euro-mutt American, am genetically more closely related to Obama than 95% of American blacks. My point was that most American blacks are of West African descent, while Obama was half East African -- and that there is much more genetic difference between East and West Africa than between my euro-mutt background and whatever Obama's half white background might be. (Not that I'm eager to claim kinship with a corrupt left-wing putz like Obama, but I still think I'm a closer cousin than most blacks are.) But my friend, an educated artsy white liberal, didn't believe me, and I didn't have any specific data to cite other than the general impression I've gotten over the years. I thought this was something that was just generally known. Is there any chart somewhere that ranks countries, regions, or official race categories by amount of genetic diversity? I'd like to see more "X is Y times more genetically diverse than Z" claims, if there is actual data to back up such claims, of course. On that “India is 4x more genetically diverse than Europe” — any idea what definition of Europe is being used?
This is a simplistic question, but how much more genetically diverse is Africa than Europe? How do Europe and, say, East Asia compare. My assumption is that Europe and East Asia are probably the least diverse, while sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia are probably the most.
This came up in a discussion where I was arguing that I, a pasty white euro-mutt American, am genetically more closely related to Obama than 95% of American blacks. My point was that most American blacks are of West African descent, while Obama was half East African — and that there is much more genetic difference between East and West Africa than between my euro-mutt background and whatever Obama’s half white background might be. (Not that I’m eager to claim kinship with a corrupt left-wing putz like Obama, but I still think I’m a closer cousin than most blacks are.)
But my friend, an educated artsy white liberal, didn’t believe me, and I didn’t have any specific data to cite other than the general impression I’ve gotten over the years. I thought this was something that was just generally known.
Is there any chart somewhere that ranks countries, regions, or official race categories by amount of genetic diversity? I’d like to see more “X is Y times more genetically diverse than Z” claims, if there is actual data to back up such claims, of course.

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