Publikationer

Research | Forskning - peer review

The Qimmeq (Greenland sled dog) has worked continuously with the Inuit in Greenland for more than 800 years. However, they now face drastic population declines caused by climate change, urbanization, and competition from snowmobiles. This study sequenced 92 modern and ancient genomes to investigate… The Qimmeq (Greenland sled dog) has worked continuously with the Inuit in Greenland for more than 800 years. However, they now face drastic population declines caused by climate change, urbanization, and competition from snowmobiles. This study sequenced 92 modern and ancient genomes to investigate how centuries of isolation shaped the regional Qimmeq populations and the impact of European contact. We found distinct regional populations and evidence for two migrations of dogs into Greenland with the Inuit from Canada. Furthermore, we found that there is minimal European ancestry in present day Qimmit and limited recent inbreeding despite low heterozygosity. These insights are critical for conservation efforts aimed at preserving the Qimmit amid environmental changes and cultural transitions. Læs mere

Research | Forskning - peer review

The Inuit ancestors of the Greenlandic people arrived in Greenland close to 1,000 years ago.1 Since then, Eu- ropeans from many different countries have been present in Greenland. Consequently, the present-day Greenlandic population has $25% of its genetic ancestry from Europe.2 In this study, we in… The Inuit ancestors of the Greenlandic people arrived in Greenland close to 1,000 years ago.1 Since then, Eu- ropeans from many different countries have been present in Greenland. Consequently, the present-day Greenlandic population has $25% of its genetic ancestry from Europe.2 In this study, we investigated to what extent different European countries have contributed to this genetic ancestry. We combined dense SNP chip data from 3,972 Greenlanders and 8,275 Europeans from 14 countries and inferred the ancestry contribution from each of these 14 countries using haplotype-based methods. Due to the rapid increase in population size in Greenland over the past $100 years, we hypothesized that earlier European interactions, such as pre-colonial Dutch whalers and early German and Danish-Norwegian missionaries, as well as the later Danish colonists and post-colonial immigrants, all contributed European genetic ancestry. However, we found that the European ancestry is almost entirely Danish and that a substantial fraction is from admix- ture that took place within the last few generations. Læs mere