Britain Britain Britain

A new genetic map of Britain shows that white indigenous English people share about 40% DNA with French.

13:00 19 March 2015

A new genetic map drawn by analyzing the DNA of more than 2,000 people shows successive waves of immigration going back 10,000 years. It also shows that white indigenous English people share about 40per cent DNA with French. 

 

Professor Peter Donnelly, director of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at Oxford University, said: “It has long been known that human populations differ genetically, but never before have we been able to observe such exquisite and fascinating detail.” 

 

“By coupling this with our assessment of the genetic contributions from different parts of Europe we were able to add to our understanding of UK population history.”

 

The most noteworthy information is the arrival of Anglo-Saxons in 410AD that resulted to intermarriage with the Romano-British Celts, which contradicts historians who have suggested wholesale ethnic cleansing. 

“The results give an answer to the question we had never previously thought we would be able to ask about the degree of British survival after the collapse of Roman Britain and the coming of the Saxons,” said Professor Mark Robinson, an archaeologist at Oxford University.

“This has allowed us to see what has happened. The established genetic makeup of the British Isles today is reflecting events that took place 1400 years ago,” Professor Robinson said.