New Caledonia's indigenous rebuff DNA research
Researchers trying to trace the DNA of indigenous peoples have been rebuffed in New Caledonia.
According to the public broadcaster, New Caledonia's customary Senate, which represents the territory's Kanak people, has turned down bids by German and French researchers to obtain DNA samples.
The Senate said the DNA did not belong to any individual but to a clan.
Studies of the human genome have already been carried out in Fiji, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea to try to reconstruct migratory patterns in the Pacific.
(www.radionz.co.nz)
Ancient DNA shows Asian farmers first Pacific people
A professor from New Zealand's Massey University has proven farmers from Asia were the first people to settle in the Pacific, thousands of years ago. The research, which has been published in the journal, Nature, comes from DNA extracted from 3000-year-old skeletons in Vanuatu and Tonga.
It refutes the belief that early Pacific settlers were of predominantly Papuan ancestry.
One of the co-authors of the research, Professor Murray Cox, said the research could bring about health improvements for Maori and Pasifika people by helping scientists better understand their genetic makeup's.
"By understanding what genes they got from where and what those genes do we hope to have a better understanding of what is happening in these populations today and from that, better healthcare outcomes."
(www.radionz.co.nz)
