Population genetic studies in sikkim

Himalayan and sub-Himalayan populations comprise many culturally and ethnically different groups who live close together and often in the same villages. To investigate whether they also represent different genetic entities, several red-cell genetic markers (ABO, MN, ACP, ADA, GLO, PGM, AK, PGD, PHI and Hb) were studied on about 500 individuals living in four villages of a small area of the northwest corner of Sikkim and belonging to a number of distinct ethnic groups of Mongolian or Hindu or Mixed extraction. On the whole the groups of Mongolian origin turned out to be clearly distinguishable from the non-Mongolian especially by means of the AK, PGD and PHI polymorphisms. The genetic isolation of these groups can also be seen from the mating migration matrix which shows that interethnic marriages are rare.