Population structure of Scotland and isles

A study explores the population structure of Scotland and the surrounding isles. Genome analysis has unearthed rich insights into the population histories of England, Wales, and Ireland, which are marked by invasions and migrations. However, the population structures of northern Britain, Scotland, and the surrounding isles remain understudied. James Flett Wilson and colleagues assembled and analyzed genome data from 2,544 British and Irish people to explore genetic diversity in undersampled regions. The authors identified 6 genetic clusters within Scotland–the northeast, the southwest, the Borders, the Hebrides, Orkney, and Shetland–with most Scots placing in the northeast or southwest clusters. Comparison of the British and Irish samples with genome data from 2,225 Scandinavians revealed high Norwegian ancestry in the Northern Isles clusters–as high as 23% in Shetland–and lower Norwegian ancestry in North Scotland, Argyll, the Isle of Man, and Ireland, with little observed elsewhere. Most of the Norwegian-like ancestry in Britain and Ireland appeared to originate from Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane, counties in western Norway from which Norse Vikings are thought to have set forth. Additionally, the authors explored the possible British or Irish origins of ancient Gaels in Iceland, previously described through analysis of ancient DNA. The comparative analysis revealed that ancient Gael settlers who contributed to the founding of Iceland may have originated from a source population in the northwestern reaches of Britain or Ireland. Fine-scale population genetic analysis can aid the discovery of rare genetic variants that play major roles in human diseases, and the findings provide a basis for rare variant discovery in Britain and Ireland, according to the authors.

Article #19-04761: “The genetic landscape of Scotland and the Isles,” by Edmund Gilbert et al.

MEDIA CONTACT: James Flett Wilson, University of Edinburgh, UNITED KINGDOM; e-mail:

[email protected]

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