Genetic similarity between a Sri Lankan group and ethnic Indians discovered by CCMB research
A recent research led by the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) has provided insights on the ancestry of Sri Lanka’s indigenous Vedda people as well as the ancient genetic connections between them and other Asian ethnicities.
JC Bose fellow Dr. K Thangaraj of CSIR-CCMB, Hyderabad, is one of the ten researchers involved in the study. “The unique linguistic and cultural characteristics of the Vedda language isolate have long intrigued scientists and historians alike,” he added, referring to them as one of Sri Lanka’s least researched indigenous communities.
According to the study, there is a considerable genetic relationship between the indigenous people and ethnic communities in India, even if there are no close language parallels. Prof. Gyaneshwer Chaubey, a molecular anthropologist at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in Varanasi, stated, “Our autosomal analyses suggest a close genetic connection between the Vedda and Indian ethnic populations speaking various tongues, pointing towards a deep-rooted history that predates linguistic diversifications.”
According to the study’s lead author, Dr. Ruwandi Ranasingh of Colombo University, the Vedda population has experienced genetic drift and a recent bottleneck, giving rise to a distinct genetic composition with little gene flow from nearby Sinhalese and Sri Lankan Tamil populations.
The research’s consequences provide new insights into Sri Lanka’s and the region’s demographic past in South Asia. The research shows how, in spite of significant language and cultural changes over millennia, the Vedda have managed to maintain their genetic uniqueness.
Dr. Vinay Nandicoori, director of CCMB, expressed hope that the discoveries would contribute to a better knowledge of South Asia’s genetic variety and a greater appreciation of the distinctive cultural and genetic history of the Vedda people.
