Large genetic study brings message of ancestral
unity.
By David Cyranoski
December 10, 2009
Researchers mapping a massive array of genomes
across Asia say they have found evidence that humans covered the continent in a single migratory
wave, and share a common ancestry.
The findings were released by the Human Genome
Organisation (HUGO) Pan-Asian SNP Consortium which looks at single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), or variations at individual
bases that make up the genetic code. The results challenge the view that Asia was populated
by at least two waves of migration.
"In Asia, we
are all related," says Edison Liu, a lead author from the Genome Institute of Singapore. "It brings us closer together."
It is thought that a wave of humans emerged from
Africa some 60,00075,000 years ago and travelled along the southern coast of India,
into southeast Asia and down to Oceania. But scientists struggled to explain some of the
variation seen in Asia today such as the obvious physical differences between Malaysian and
Filipino Negrito populations and other Asians. Some researchers have postulated that a second wave, or series of waves, from
a northern route largely repopulated the area, leaving the Negrito and others as relicts of the earlier migration.
The new study, a five-year examination of variation
at some 55,000 SNPs in 1928 individuals, found that Negrito populations had a high level of genetic overlap with other southeast
Asia populations, suggesting a common ancestry. East Asians, the analysis suggests, share a large degree of common genetic
background with southeast Asians but very little with central Asians, seeming to preclude a peopling of east Asia through
a northern route via the Eurasian Steppes. And genetic variation within local populations decreased from southeast to northeast
Asia. The two observations suggest that diverse peoples living in southeast Asia migrated
northwards.
"It's an impressive collection of samples,
a huge amount of work and analysis, and it will contribute greatly to the field," says Mark Stoneking, an evolutionary geneticist
at Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, who was not involved in the study.
Asian unity
Merely organizing the work was a massive task.
Researchers in 11 countries and regions took samples from 73 populations, requiring countries often at political or economic
loggerheads to share ideas, technology and genomes. For countries lacking the technological capabilities to do the genetic
analysis but loath to ship genetic samples to another country, Liu established a system by which researchers could bring the
samples to host countries and do the studies themselves, in collaboration with their hosts. "The chain of custody was never
broken," he says. "It was extraordinarily collegial."
The result is not a complete shock. While this
study provides the most detailed analysis of genetic diversity among Asians to date, a 2005 study on mitochondrial DNA came
to a similar conclusion2. Martin Richards, at the University of Leeds, UK, is a specialist in genetic variation in southeast
Asia who led that study. "By and large, [the new study] is not surprising for fans of mitochondrial DNA, I think, but naturally
it is very heart-warming," he says.
The new study also supports mitochondrial DNA
evidence that challenges the customary "out of Taiwan" model, in which
migration from mainland China through Taiwan led to the settlement of southeast Asia and the Pacific islands. Instead it seems Taiwan may have been largely settled from islands in southeast Asia.
But the results are not conclusive, as the authors
admit. Stoneking says he was "very surprised that the Negrito populations were not more genetically distinct", and would like
to see other supposed relict populations, such as those in New Guinea and Australia, studied in the same kind of detail. He
argues that it is not possible to tell whether extensive genetic intermingling with surrounding populations might have obscured
evidence for two waves of migration. He says he has evidence to support the two-wave theory in work yet to be published that
looks specifically at mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosomes of Negrito populations.
Liu says he is discussing plans for a second phase
study with much higher resolution based on 600,0001 million SNPs. Possible extensions for the new project will be a look at
copy number variation (duplications in sections of DNA), a resequencing of mitochondrial DNA and a focus on specific genetic
components such as differences between enzymes that metabolize drugs, and human leukocyte antigen variations. It will be especially
tantalizing, says Liu, to see if drug-metabolism genes show the same northsouth variation in east Asia. "There would be implications
for drug response and clinical trials," he says although he adds that it will not be possible to link specific health information
to genotypes across the continent.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rizal's ‘rags-to-riches’ ancestor
from South China
By Wilson Lee Flores
INQUIRER.net
06/18/2008
QUANZHOU CITY, China--In
the annals of the world's top ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs, immigrant tycoon Don Domingo Lamco (Chinese name: ''Cue Yi-Lam,''
also pronounced ''Ke Yi-Nan'' in Mandarin) of Laguna province, the Philippines will eventually rank high in importance due
to the greatness of Dr. Jose Rizal, the Philippine national hero who was his direct heir.
Five Rizal descendants
made a historic homecoming to the hero's ancestral village of Siongque (pronounced ''Zhang Guo'' in Mandarin) in Losan district,
Jinjiang City, Fujian province, south China last April 2, just three days before the ancient Ching Ming Festival when Chinese
people traditionally pay homage to their ancestors.
Agence France Presse
(AFP) said 10,000 people gave a grand welcome in Siongque. Many Filipino businessmen now propose the construction of a1.2-hectare
Rizal park and museum in Fujian as ''symbols of the enduring friendly relations between the
Philippines and China.''
In May 1998, this
writer had lunch at the home of Rizal's grandniece Asuncion Lopez-Rizal Bantug and told her it was possible to trace the hero's
Chinese roots. In February this year, businessman Manuel O. Chua and this writer successfully verified the roots of Rizal
based on South China genealogical records and a 1913 book donated by the late Justice Roman
Ozaeta (father of former PCIBank president Antonio Ozaeta) to the Philippine National Library. Authored by the American historian
Prof. Austin Craig, the book ''Lineage, Life and Labors of Jose Rizal, Philippine Patriot'' gave the first Philippine verification
of Rizal's Chinese roots in the chapter on ''Rizal's Chinese Ancestry. ''
Domingo Lamco had
specified Siongque in Manila church records as his home village near Chinchew: ''Siongque Village of Fujian province indeed
exists near the historic city of Quanzhou, which is pronounced Chuanchow, meaning ‘City
of Spring.’'' The rural areas of Jinjiang (now a city),
Lamoa, Hui-Wa, Chio-Sai, An-Khue and others under Quanzhou are the ancestral places of 80 percent of the top Filipino entrepreneurs
of Chinese descent.
Rizal's eminent
ancestors
Siongque was the
rural ''barrio'' where entrepreneur Domingo Lamco was born and educated. He was the 19th generation of the first Cua who settled
in Siongque. The Cua clan of south China and Asia trace their origins 3,000
years ago to patriarch Chua Siok-To in the YellowRiver
basin of central China, in that area now called Henan province. Duke Chua Siok-To was the fifth son of the political
genius who founded the Chou Dynasty and his eldest brother later became the king. This era was before the rise of a unified
China under first Emperor Chin Shih Huang-Ti.
Descendants of Chua
(also pronounced ''Tsai'' in Mandarin or ''Choy'' in Cantonese) include some of the world's richest billionaires according
to Forbes magazine-- Taiwanese Tsai Wan-Lin of Cathay Life Group and Indonesian 'Tobacco King' Rachman Halim (Chua To-Hing)
of the Gudang Garam Group. Another clan member was the late Philippine 'Sugar King' and philanthropist Antonio Roxas-Chua.
Another heir of patriarch Chua Siok-To started the clan of Cua (pronounced ''Ke'' in Mandarin, also spelled as ''Qua'' or
''Koa,'' of which Domingo Lamco and Dr. Jose Rizal were direct male descendants). Lamco was the founder of the entrepreneurial
Mercado clan in Laguna and the great-great-grandfather of Dr. Jose Rizal.
From March 31 to
April 7, this writer accompanied and acted as interpreter in South China to the five Rizal heirs--businessman Antonio ''Noni''
Lopez-Rizal Bantug Jr., Leandro Bantug Jr. (whose father Dinky owns a top furniture firm and the MBA basketball team Manila
Metrostars), Raul Jose Rizal Tan, Ricardo Consunji III and Ditas O. Consunji. Noni's 78-year-old mother Asuncion is the granddaughter of Rizal's elder sister Narcisa and author of two important
Rizal biographies.
Lamco’s Village
The five Rizal heirs
were accompanied by 200 Cua-Chua clan members from the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia,
Taiwan and China in
the sentimental journey to the village of Domingo
Lamco. The entire 5,000-population of SiongqueVillage and thousands of others from nearby villages lined all the streets
for a grand welcome. There were nonstop firecracker blasts, the local school was closed, red banners filled the walls saying
''Welcome Home, heirs of Domingo Lamco and Jose Rizal from the Philippines,''
a thousand small children in red waved flower bouquets, and ancient rites were held in two village temples. It was a welcome
befitting an emperor.
Noni Bantug delivered
a speech expressing hope that the memory of Rizal's Chinese heritage would strengthen Philippine-China relations. Stanford-educated
Ricardo ''Bombit'' Consunji III (Chinese name: Cua Yeng-Liong), with Philbank director Francis Chua's help in drafting his
speech in fluent Mandarin, impressed the audience by speaking about his ''lolo'' Jose Rizal. Rizal himself was fluent in the
Chinese language and researched Chinese historical data referring to pre-colonial Philippines to debunk Spanish claims that the country had no early culture.
Bicolano trader
Melanio Cua Fernando said: ''Our village had never seen such a grand celebration, not since 1948 when Bicolano tycoon Qua
Chee Gan, another son of this village, returned to Siongque to donate the local school.'' In the pre-war era years to the
pre-martial law 1970s, immigrant Qua Chee Gan was the ''rags-to-riches'' trader who became Philippine ''Copra King.'' Based
in Tabaco, Albay, Qua vigorously pushed Philippine copra exports and was also a leading philanthropist.
Qua was so well
respected for his ''shinyung'' or trustworthiness that company drafts with his signatures were considered then more valuable
than cash by traders in the Bicol region and Quezon province. One of his agency managers based in Daet, Camarines Norte was
the late Fernando S. Vinzons Sr., top Bicolano businessman and father of former BIR Commissioner Liwayway Vinzons Chato.
Merchant, mayors,
martyr
Domingo Lamco was
a fearless entrepreneur who ensured not only the survival of his descendants, but also their socio-political leadership as
highly educated ilustrados. Lamco achieved business success despite cruel odds, since the Spaniards persecuted the Chinese
and Chinese mestizos, unfairly requiring them to pay higher taxes and even at times massacring them.
Persecutions toughened
the Chinese traders, forcing them to become resilient and resourceful. Baptized in the Catholic church of Manila's Parian Chinese ghetto in June 1697 at age 35, Domingo Lamco later moved to Biņan,
Laguna, here he prospered and became a leader of the Chinese community. To free his heirs from the Spanish regime's anti-Chinese
racist policies, Lamco gave his clan the new surname ''Mercado'' (meaning ''market'' in Spanish) so that his heirs would not
forget their Chinese merchant roots.
Rizal's ancestors
were survivors of the Spanish colonial regime's racism and despotism. Domingo Lamco wed Inez de la Roza, daughter of the successful
immigrant trader from Chuanchow named Agustin Chinco. Lamco's son Francisco Mercado and grandson Juan Mercado married Chinese
mestizos; both served as distinguished mayors of Biņan for a total of five terms.
Juan's wife Cirila
Alejandra was the daughter of an immigrant trader and Domingo Lamco's baptismal godson Siong-co. By the time of Rizal's father,
their branch of the wealthy clan moved to Calamba, built the first stone house in the whole town, owned the first piano, the
first carriage, owned a flour mill, a dye factory, increased landholdings and sent their children to the best schools. Jose
Rizal Mercado had to change the family surname again before entering Manila's
Ateneo to avoid Spanish persecution since his elder brother Paciano Mercado was close to the martyred Filipino priest, Jose
Burgos. Rizal himself died a martyr in 1896 at age 35, becoming a hero whose powerful ideas and moral courage helped liberate
the Filipino nation from Spanish oppression.
It is fitting that
much of Asia now honors the immigrant trader Don Domingo Lamco of Laguna. His ''rags-to-riches''
career may not yet be as well-known as those of immigrant billionaires Li Ka-Shing of Hong Kong, Liem Sioe-Liong (Sudono Salim)
of Indonesia, prewar ''Rubber King'' Tan Kah-Kee of Singapore, John Gokongwei Jr., Tan Yu or Henry Sy of the Philippines,
or even that of 19th century empire-builder Jose Cojuangco I of Tarlac, but Don Domingo Lamco's legacy of courage and excellence
embodied by his heir Dr. Jose Rizal has immeasurably enriched Philippine national life.
No crystal skulls, no alien corpses were found. But the archaeological
excavations in Boljoon town, south of Cebu, offer just as interesting—and more realistic—finds
on Cebuano culture and tradition.
New discoveries have led to more questions, that need expert study, said Jose Eleazar “Jobers”
Bersales, chairman of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology of the University
of San Carlos.
Bersales reported the group’s findings in last Thursday’s lecture held at the
CebuCathedralMuseum that was also attended by Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal.
Bersales, an archeologist, said among those unearthed a few meters from the Patrocino de Maria
Parish in Boljoon town south of Cebu province were 26 burials, antique ceramic dishes and jars, a necklace of precious stones
and one large gold earring.
Even after three phases of excavations that began in February last year, they failed to find
the original foundation of the centuries-old church. If found, it would help determine the actual date of the parish’s
founding that had been debated by historians.
“Boljoon figures large in the defense against Islamic marauders,” he said on the
significance of the parish in Cebuano history. The church was built in 1783 and was renovated during the time of paroko kapitan
Julian Bermejo, one of only two priests given the title, Bersales said.
Archaeological finds
“We think this is a Christian burial site,” Bersales said. “Cebu
was never Islamized.”
In a separate lecture on the skeletal remains, physical anthropologist and osteologist Bonn
Vito Aure said the bones recovered on site were individually identified and sorted.
They determined the gender from the cranial (head) and pelvic forms. Age was determined through
dental analysis of the wear and tear of the teeth.
Aure said there were two children—one aged three--three adolescents, seven young adults,
seven middle adults and six old adults.
“Eighty percent of the individuals have caries (tooth decay), which indicates that they
consumed a starch-rich diet. This means the people were already involved in agriculture,” he said.
Aure also noted the early use of toothpicks and the practice of tooth filing possibly for
aesthetic purposes. But this needs further study since teeth filing in other Asian countries like Indonesia is functional to enable people to eat sago, a type of powdery starch.
Pre-Spanish Cebuanos in the town had osteomyelitis or bone infection which usually results
from bacterial contamination, abscess or injury, based on the remains found.
Items 500 to 600 years old were dug up.
“This is the first time that gold was excavated,” the archeology professor noted.
He cited one large tubular earring worn on the right ear of a male.
A similar sample, dated between the 14th and 16th century, is found in the Bangko Sentral
ng Pilipinas Gold Collection.
There was also a necklace made from six carnelian gemstones, four red glass beads, six gold
spacers and three gold pendants with carvings.
Other unearthed objects:
- Three ceramic dishes made during the time of Chinese Emperor Wan Li, the Zhangzhou period
between 1573 and 1620
- two bowls from Anxi kiln in Fujian province in China produced between the 1590s and 1620s.
•A jar of the late Ming Dynasty (1590 and 1620)
Bersales said a similar artifact was recovered from the Dutch East Indies ship, Witte Leeuw,
that sank in 1613 while on its way back to Holland.
•Five daggers and spears , some with fiber marks which could be abaca weave or sinamay.
In other excavation sites near the convent, experts unearthed bones of wild pigs and cows,
piles of stones, small shells, broken pieces of ceramics and bronze Christian medallions.
Notable archeological facts
Males were also found buried with their hands clasped across their chests. The females were
buried with their hands covering their genital area, said Bersales in a separate e-mail.
Two distinct burial positions were noted. Some skeletons showed the head facing the south
or oriented north-south. Another group was buried with the head oriented east-west.
The bones did not indicate that those buried were fisherfolk. They were likely traders.
“We have not found net sinkers or shells lining the grave that would be normally expected
from burials found near the shore or beach,” Bersales said.
“This is the first time in the history of archeology in the Philippines where the head is covered with two ceramic wares since recorded excavations
began in the 1920s,” he added.
Carbon dating of four bone samples sent to to the University
of Arizona revealed that the skeletal remains are between 340 and 500
years old.
PUBLIC INTEREST
In a message to lecture participants, Cardinal Vidal said the interest in treasures unearthed
in Boljoon is “not only the concern of the academe and the Church. It is everybody’s concern.”
Some of the archaeological finds are on display at the CebuCathedralMuseum.
“Museums are a source of national pride and national consciousness and it is important
for the children to see what it is like to be part of their country,” said Vidal, who opened the exhibit.
Vidal said experts had managed to discover “details of ordinary life” of the Cebuanos’
ancestors.
Other questions have to be resolved, said Bersales, who admitted it would take more than a
decade of research at a cost of more than P1 million for archaeologists to fully assess the items discovered in Boljoon.
“Is the area a settlement or a burial site? It could be both, but we found one unit
was topsy turvy,” he said.
Bersales also said they have to determine whether the items were from the colonial or pre-colonial
period or both.
“When did Boljoon enter the orbit of permanent Augustinian work?” he asked.
“Excavations on the entire are of the church complex are needed, the publication of
this book and video production to support the documentation of the findings,” he said.
No crystal skulls, no alien corpses were found. But the archaeological
excavations in Boljoon town, south of Cebu, offer just as interesting—and more realistic—finds
on Cebuano culture and tradition.
New discoveries have led to more questions, that need expert study, said Jose Eleazar “Jobers”
Bersales, chairman of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology of the University
of San Carlos.
Bersales reported the group’s findings in last Thursday’s lecture held at the
CebuCathedralMuseum that was also attended by Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal.
Bersales, an archeologist, said among those unearthed a few meters from the Patrocino de Maria
Parish in Boljoon town south of Cebu province were 26 burials, antique ceramic dishes and jars, a necklace of precious stones
and one large gold earring.
Even after three phases of excavations that began in February last year, they failed to find
the original foundation of the centuries-old church. If found, it would help determine the actual date of the parish’s
founding that had been debated by historians.
“Boljoon figures large in the defense against Islamic marauders,” he said on the
significance of the parish in Cebuano history. The church was built in 1783 and was renovated during the time of paroko kapitan
Julian Bermejo, one of only two priests given the title, Bersales said.
Archaeological finds
“We think this is a Christian burial site,” Bersales said. “Cebu
was never Islamized.”
In a separate lecture on the skeletal remains, physical anthropologist and osteologist Bonn
Vito Aure said the bones recovered on site were individually identified and sorted.
They determined the gender from the cranial (head) and pelvic forms. Age was determined through
dental analysis of the wear and tear of the teeth.
Aure said there were two children—one aged three--three adolescents, seven young adults,
seven middle adults and six old adults.
“Eighty percent of the individuals have caries (tooth decay), which indicates that they
consumed a starch-rich diet. This means the people were already involved in agriculture,” he said.
Aure also noted the early use of toothpicks and the practice of tooth filing possibly for
aesthetic purposes. But this needs further study since teeth filing in other Asian countries like Indonesia is functional to enable people to eat sago, a type of powdery starch.
Pre-Spanish Cebuanos in the town had osteomyelitis or bone infection which usually results
from bacterial contamination, abscess or injury, based on the remains found.
Items 500 to 600 years old were dug up.
“This is the first time that gold was excavated,” the archeology professor noted.
He cited one large tubular earring worn on the right ear of a male.
A similar sample, dated between the 14th and 16th century, is found in the Bangko Sentral
ng Pilipinas Gold Collection.
There was also a necklace made from six carnelian gemstones, four red glass beads, six gold
spacers and three gold pendants with carvings.
Other unearthed objects:
- Three ceramic dishes made during the time of Chinese Emperor Wan Li, the Zhangzhou period
between 1573 and 1620
- two bowls from Anxi kiln in Fujian province in China produced between the 1590s and 1620s.
•A jar of the late Ming Dynasty (1590 and 1620)
Bersales said a similar artifact was recovered from the Dutch East Indies ship, Witte Leeuw,
that sank in 1613 while on its way back to Holland.
•Five daggers and spears , some with fiber marks which could be abaca weave or sinamay.
In other excavation sites near the convent, experts unearthed bones of wild pigs and cows,
piles of stones, small shells, broken pieces of ceramics and bronze Christian medallions.
Notable archeological facts
Males were also found buried with their hands clasped across their chests. The females were
buried with their hands covering their genital area, said Bersales in a separate e-mail.
Two distinct burial positions were noted. Some skeletons showed the head facing the south
or oriented north-south. Another group was buried with the head oriented east-west.
The bones did not indicate that those buried were fisherfolk. They were likely traders.
“We have not found net sinkers or shells lining the grave that would be normally expected
from burials found near the shore or beach,” Bersales said.
“This is the first time in the history of archeology in the Philippines where the head is covered with two ceramic wares since recorded excavations
began in the 1920s,” he added.
Carbon dating of four bone samples sent to to the University
of Arizona revealed that the skeletal remains are between 340 and 500
years old.
PUBLIC INTEREST
In a message to lecture participants, Cardinal Vidal said the interest in treasures unearthed
in Boljoon is “not only the concern of the academe and the Church. It is everybody’s concern.”
Some of the archaeological finds are on display at the CebuCathedralMuseum.
“Museums are a source of national pride and national consciousness and it is important
for the children to see what it is like to be part of their country,” said Vidal, who opened the exhibit.
Vidal said experts had managed to discover “details of ordinary life” of the Cebuanos’
ancestors.
Other questions have to be resolved, said Bersales, who admitted it would take more than a
decade of research at a cost of more than P1 million for archaeologists to fully assess the items discovered in Boljoon.
“Is the area a settlement or a burial site? It could be both, but we found one unit
was topsy turvy,” he said.
Bersales also said they have to determine whether the items were from the colonial or pre-colonial
period or both.
“When did Boljoon enter the orbit of permanent Augustinian work?” he asked.
“Excavations on the entire are of the church complex are needed, the publication of
this book and video production to support the documentation of the findings,” he said.
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