Great Migration and African-American genomic diversity

A new study of genomic diversity in the U.S. clarifies the role of pre-Civil War admixture and early 20th century transit routes in shaping the migration history and genomic diversity among African-American communities. The research by McGill University professor Simon Gravel and colleagues, was published May 27 in PLOS Genetics. A new study of genomic diversity in the U.S. clarifies the role of pre-Civil War admixture and early 20th century transit routes in shaping the migration history and genomic diversity among African-American communities. The research by McGill University professor Simon Gravel and colleagues, was published May 27 in PLOS Genetics. Between 1910 and 1970, six million African Americans moved from the rural Southern United States to the urban Northeast, Midwest, and West - a phenomenon known to historians as the Great Migration. This migration had a profound impact on African-American communities and also on their nationwide genomic diversity. In the new study, scientists from McGill and several U.S. institutions used genetic data from 3,726 African-Americans from across the U.S. to estimate patterns of ancestry.