How did Genghis Khan shape the genetics of an entire continent?
One man's DNA lives in 16 million men today.
The answer
A 2003 genetic study found that approximately 16 million men alive today - about 0.5% of the world's male population - carry a nearly identical Y-chromosome lineage traced back to Genghis Khan or his close male relatives. The Mongol Empire's practice of the ruling family fathering vast numbers of children across conquered territories, spanning from China to Eastern Europe, created a genetic legacy unmatched by any other individual in recorded history.
Source: American Journal of Human Genetics
- genetics
- Mongol Empire
- population
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