Strong Taino genetic heritage

[NewsWhore]

Results of a recent study carried out by researchers at the Universidad Central del Este (San Pedro de Macoris) working closely with the University of Puerto Rico (Mayaguez) reveal that 15-18% of Dominicans living in the eastern part of the country have indigenous genetic makeup. The researchers plan to test 1,200 people and 538 DNA tests have already been taken since the study began in 2006. The study is a follow-up to an earlier study carried out by Dr. Juan Martinez Cruzado, a geneticist from the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez whose Puerto Rican island-wide DNA survey seems to indicate that indigenous heritage among Puerto Ricans is stronger than that previously acknowledged. History records that Spanish conquistadors in the 1600s wiped out the indigenous population, but it was always accepted that because the Spaniards came without their wives they married or took indigenous concubines. The eastern third of the country was the last large enclave of indigenous people on the island.
Parallel to the University of Puerto Rico study, the Museum of Dominican Man and the Institute of Biotechnology and Industry (IIBI) have begun a study to determine the genetic structure of pre-Columbian populations in the DR and their incidence in the population today.

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