African Diversity in Tutu's DNA
Knowledge of genetic diversity has taken a leap forward with the results of testing being done in southern Africa released last week with a surprise finding related to the ancestry of Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
In a study of local tribes and their DNA, Stephan Schuster and his team from Pennsylvania State University found more than 1.3 million new genetic variations not previously known in human DNA and came to the conclusion via genome study that two African bushmen who spoke different languages differentiated more between each other, genetically speaking, then do European and Asian populations.
If we really want to understand human diversity, we need to go to [southern] Africa and we need to study those people; we are all very, very similar to one another.
Stephan Schuster of Pennsylvania State University
In there continued search for a better understanding of genetic differences in homo sapiens, the research team focused on the entire human genome. Aiming at better understanding recent genetic history in southern Africa, the genomes of two men were studied; one man represented the Kalahari Desert bushmen while Nobel Peace laureate Desmond Tutu represented people of Bantu history.
One of the studies surprises was the discovery that Tutu had the lineage of at least one bushman woman; Tutu called the finding a blessing and expressed great joy at finding that he was genetically related to those “wise people.”
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