The Genetic Diversity of the Americas
Open accessAbstract
The history of the Americas involved the encounter of millions of Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans. A variable admixture of these three continental groups has taken place throughout the continent, influenced by demography and a range of social factors. This variable admixture has had a major influence on the genetic makeup of populations across the continent. Here, we summarize the demographic history of the region, highlight some social factors that affected historical admixture, and review major patterns of ancestry across the Western Hemisphere based on genetic data.
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African-Americans have around 20% European DNA.
“Generally, African-Americans have around 20% European DNA [37,[59][60][61][62].”
From Global Ancestry and Cognitive Ability (2019) · cites this paper as [60]
In “Genetic Ancestry in European Americans and African Americans” (page unavailable), the review reports that US African American samples have ≤25% European ancestry. This supports a substantial European ancestry component, but it does not establish the claimed general estimate of around 20%. (LLM, conf=0.82)
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References 71 · Cited by 100
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- Authors
- Adhikari, K., Chacón-Duque, J. C., Mendoza-Revilla, J., Fuentes-Guajardo, M., & Ruiz-Linares, A.
- Affiliations
- University College London (GB)
- Department of Genetics, Evolution, and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
- Venue
- Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics
- Publisher
- Annual Reviews
- Published
- 2017-08-31
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 277-296
- ISSN
- 1527-8204 (ISSN-L)
- 1545-293X
- OpenAlex
- W2587604796
- Cited by
- 100
- References
- 71
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 7
- FWCI
- 1.20
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Forensic and Genetic Research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic diversity and population structure
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Race, Genetics, and Society
- Keywords
- genetic diversity, population admixture, Native Americans, European colonization, African ancestry, demographic history, ancestry inference
- MeSH terms
- Americas, Demography, Female, Genetics, Population, Humans, Male, Genetic Variation, Black People, White People, American Indian or Alaska Native
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