1 janvier 2019

British Genes in the Genome of French Canadians : a Riddle of Genetic Genealogy By Clément Fortin, retired attorney at law


British Genes in the Genome of French Canadians : a Riddle of Genetic Genealogy



By Clément Fortin, retired attorney at law



The following article is a translation of Des gènes britanniques chez des Canadiens français : une énigme de la généalogie génétique published in La Mémoire, the magazine of the Société d’histoire et de généalogie des Pays-d’en-Haut,  Winter 2018, Number 147.





By Clément Fortin, retired attorney at law



            On YouTube, a French Canadian describes, in English, his DNA results that he just received from MyHeritage. To his dismay, he discovers that his ascendants are everyone but French. I let you enjoy watching him discovering his genetic  origins in clicking on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D826Fpu62X4

            Genetics captivates me. First, as a lawyer, I salute an effective way to ferret out assassins. And historically, the search for fossil DNA facilitates the discovery of the origins of the man of Neanderthal and of the modern man. Finally, with a little saliva, I discovered my genetic background.

            On the 25th of April 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick published in the magazine NATURE a one-page article establishing the structure of the DNA double helix. They were granted a Nobel prize. Almost 50 years later, the human genome was decoded. What a giant step their discovery has offered humanity!





            While surfing on the Web, I came across an interesting offer of a DNA test  by MyHeritage. Curiosity induced me to live that experience. A few weeks later, I received these surprising results. I was informed that I am:

63 % English

19.3 % Iberian

15.5 % Greek

2.2 % of the Balkans (Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Bosnia and Herzegovina).

            There is no doubt that I am of French descent. This is confirmed by the genealogy of my maternal and paternal families. But we do not know what the collaterals reserve for us as a surprise.

            Quebec is a land of welcome. For example, in 1811, Mgr. Joseph-Octave Plessis, bishop of Quebec, went by boat to Matane, my hometown, to make his pastoral visit. He observed with admiration Micmacs, Canadians, Acadians, Scots, Germans, Irish and Anglo-Americans live in perfect harmony. He found it remarkable to hear the same person speaks three or four languages.

               Continuing my research on the Web, I took note of a study conducted by the Fédération des Québécois de souche (Federation of Quebecers of Ancestral Origin)  that comments the DNA analyses made by 23andMe[i], a genetics laboratory for the general public. I invite you to read this study. You can access it by clicking on the link in footnote 1. I also suggest you read this article Le patrimoine génétique germanique des Québécois [ii] (The Genetic and Germanic Heritage of Quebecers) by Christian Allen Drouin whose link will lead you to it in footnote 2, at the end of this document. And you will also like to read an article by Alain Vadeboncoeur entitled "I'm an English, My Dear"[iii]».

               23andMe also offers the opportunity to know our state of health; to learn if we are carriers of genetic disease; to what extent are we likely to suffer from diabetes, Alzheimer's, etc. For now, I'm sticking to genetic genealogy.  All things considered, I gave in to the temptation to undergo a DNA test offered by 23andMe whose report provides a lot of information on each of the ethnic groups analyzed. I extracted the ones that seemed most pertinent to me.

European 98.2% North-West European 87.2%

French and German 48.1%

The "French and Germans" descend from ancient Celtic and Germanic alpine populations and inhabit a region stretching from the Netherlands to Austria, which is roughly the extent of Charlemagne's Frankish Kingdom in the Middle Ages. Estimates place Charlemagne himself in the genealogical trees of all modern Europeans, perhaps several times. Genetically and geographically, the French and the Germans are at the heart of Europe.

Native American 0.6%

British and Irish 20.0%

Widely Northwestern Europe 19.0%

Southern European 6.9%

Iberian 5.4%

Largely Southern European 1.5%

Largely European 4.1%

East Asian and Native American 0.7%

The first humans to reach the New World populated much of North, Central and South America a few thousand years after their arrival from Northeast Asia and the genetic legacy of these prehistoric pioneers persists to date among the indigenous people of the Americas. In North America, however, Native American ancestry tends to be only five generations or more, leaving little DNA evidence of this heritage.

Middle East and North Africa 0.2%

The people of West Asia and North Africa have not only genetic links, but also deep linguistic links with each other.

Mostly from East Asia and Amerindian <0 .1="" span="">

The people of East Asia and the Americas have a common genetic history. Their common ancestors left Western Asia 80,000 years ago, migrating eastward across the continent. The ancestors of the Amerindians began crossing the Americas 12,000 to 15,000 years ago.

Neanderthal Descent

You have fewer Neanderthal variants than 80% of 23andMe customers. However, your Neanderthal ancestry accounts for less than 4% of your overall DNA.





A reconstruction of the Neanderthal man and woman



Your maternal haplogroup[iv] is H1c

Your paternal haplogroup is R-P311

            You share a paternal ancestor with Niall of the nine hostages. The spread of haplogroup R-M269 in Northern Ireland and Scotland was probably favoured by men like Niall of the nine hostages. Perhaps more a myth than a man, Niall of the nine hostages would have been a king of Tara in Northwestern Ireland at the end of the fourth century AD. His name comes from a story of nine hostages he detained from the areas he ruled. Although the legendary stories of his life were invented hundreds of years after his death, genetic evidence suggests that the Uí Néill dynasty, whose name means "descendants of Niall", refers only to a man who wore a branch of haplogroup R-M269. The Uí Néill reigned as kings of Ireland from the seventh to the eleventh century AD. In the very patriarchal society of medieval Ireland, their status allowed them to have a large number of children and to perpetuate their paternal lineage. In fact, researchers estimated that between 2 and 3 million men with roots in Northwestern Ireland are descendants of Niall.

      

                  At first glance, these results from 23andMe seem closer to my reality. Nevertheless, I am surprised that I am awarded 19 % under "Widely Northwestern Europe" without more precision. This part of Europe stretches from Northern Ireland to Northern Norway to Finland and France to the south.

                  As I continue my research, I learn that AncestryDNA has larger databases that would enlighten me on this topic. You have no doubt realized that the results of DNA tests are dependent on the information obtained from the laboratories' databases. I gave a sample of my saliva to AncestryDNA with the following results and comments:

      Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales) 34%

      Ireland / Scotland / Wales 29%

      (Note: If you add 34% + 29%, you get 63%, which is the same percentage as in the MyHeritage test, each lab has its own terminology.)

      Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) 18%

      The Greeks named this region "Iberia" after the river Ebro. The Romans, who called this region Hispania, introduced Christianity and Latin that would be transformed into Spanish and Portuguese. Subsequently, the Moors crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and established on the continent one of the most advanced civilizations, rich in universities, libraries and hospitals. At the collapse of the last Moors' stronghold in 1492, sailors from Spain and Portugal were ready to spread their languages ​​and culture to the world.                                            

      Scandinavia (Sweden, Norway and Denmark) 8%

The Scandinavian adventures, historically known as savvy navigators, put them in touch with much of the rest of Europe, sometimes as feared pirates and at other times as merchants and traders always on the move. The Scandinavian navigator Leif Ericson is the first European to reach North America, 500 years before the first voyage of Columbus in 1492.

Southern Europe (Italy and Greece, mainly) 8%

      Regions with a low confidence index

Middle East (Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Oman, Yemen,

United Arab Emirates (UAE), Lebanon, Israel) 1%

Finland / Northwestern Russia <1 span="">

Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey) <1 span="">

Eastern Europe (Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria, Russia, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine, Byelorussia, Moldova, Lithuania, Latvia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia) <1 span="">

Migration

French settlers from Gaspésie, New Brunswick and Maine

You probably have relatives who were part of this migration in the last few centuries. Your connection to this migration is probably due to your ancestry in Britain, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

French settlers along the St. Lawrence River

Many French settlers emigrated to New France to trade in fur. In the wild, they lived surrounded by hostile natives. After the War of the Conquest, the British regarded Canadians as second-class citizens. Many of them fled to New England.



            The above three  tests describe the main elements of my DNA results. I surely did not expect receiving such results. It is for that reason I wanted to compare my DNA test results with those of members of my family. At my instigation, one of my brothers, a first cousin, a sister-in-law and a niece also took DNA tests and got results similar to mine. You will tell me that this is a weak sample. Be that as it may,  I do not pretend to carry a scientific study. However, it shows that my DNA is not exceptional. One could say that my genes are partly Germanic if this appellation had been retained by MyHeritage, 23andMe and AncestryDNA. Finally, if my genes are not French, I'm still from France. That's why I tried to explain this puzzle by reviewing the history of barbarian and Viking invasions. Those who are called barbarians are Germanic people, as are the Vikings. Below, a map tells us that the inhabitants of Northwestern France are Germanic. It is this part of France that my ancestors left to settle in New France.





This map is based on the work of Professor Georges-Alexis Montandon.
 
   In the fifth century, the Romans began to withdraw from the British Isles. See the map b
elow for a migratory influx to England of Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians (Germanic 
people). I add Frisians who seem to be ignored despite the fact that it is from their language
 that Old English draws part of its origins. Several Celts who were there fled to Ireland, 
Scotland, Wales and Brittany. As for the Franks, another Germanic tribe, they invaded Gaul, 
part of which became France.  In his book, The Origins of the British[v], Stephen 
Oppenheimer claims that the Angles and Saxons account for only 5% of the genome of the 
British. They would be of Celtic origin as the Irish, Scots and Welsh.
   In contrast, The Guardian reports that researchers at Oxford University conducted a
 genetic study they published in the journal Nature; it has been spread over 20 years; 
it reveals that 30% of the DNA of white British has a strong Anglo-Saxon influence. 
Although the Romans, Vikings and Normans ruled the British for hundreds of years, 
they left little trace of their DNA, they observed[vi].
   Surprisingly, this study shows that people living in the south and centre of England 
today share, generally speaking, 40 % of their DNA with the French, 11 %  with the 
Danish and 9 % with the Belgians. More than 2000 people have participated in this 
study. The French contribution was not linked to the Norman invasion of 1066, but to
 a wave of migrations until then unknown in Great Britain, some time after the last 
glacial period, nearly 10 000 years ago.









            In the 9th century, the Vikings, in their turn, upset Northwestern European DNA. See the map below which indicates the places they have invaded, Normandy being one of them.







            France was colonized or invaded by Celts, Basques, Greeks, Romans, Franks, Vikings, etc. And it is generally admitted that Northern France is culturally and ethnically closer to Northern Europe. Therefore, is it not a heresy to refer to Quebecers as Latins?

            In France, parental tests may only be authorized by court decisions, and for medical or research purposes. Consequently, French DNA databases are reduced. Review the results I got from 23andMe. My genome would be 48,1 % French and German. However, who knows in what proportion I am one or the other. To submit oneself to a DNA test, also involves the acceptance of flabbergasting results.

               Since the arrival of my ancestors in New France, in the course of the 17th century, populations of Northwestern France have undergone migratory influxes. And one should not be surprised to not being able to find oneself?

               Recreational genomics, as the French call it, is forbidden. However, many  French call upon foreign laboratories for their DNA tests. As time elapses, databases will refine their procedure and be able to offer more precise results. 

                In a few pages, I have barely scratched a difficult subject, but how captivating. I induce you to live this experience. The human genome is a vast domain of study. For example, how our genes do influence our behaviour? Should justice consider the fact that the author of an offence was under the influence of his genome? Are we really free? Would knowing one’s own genetic origins have us envisage the world differently?

Note: For the reproduction of the maps in my text, I did not find to whom I had to address.



[i] Comprendre les tests génétiques : analyse de «23andMe»

[ii] Le patrimoine génétique germanique des Québécois par Christian Allen Drouin

[iii] « I’m an English, my dear » Alain Vadeboncoeur

[iv] Haplogroups are in a way branches of the genealogical tree of modern man. In genetics, a haplogroup is a large group of genes on the same chromosome (haplotypes). There are about 25 haplogroups (A, B, C, etc.), each with its own genetic characteristics. Haplogroups help to understand the geographical movements of men and women over time. The most studied are the Y chromosome haplogroup (men, paternal line) and the mtDNA haplogroup (men and women, maternal line).

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