Genomic mystery of ancient SE civilization unraveled

Kunming (CNS) -- Scientists at the Kunming Institute of Zoology (KIZ) recently decoded the genomic information of the Cham people, an ancient civilization on the Indochinese Peninsula whose history drew to an end in the early 19th century.

This millennium old civilization is the main Formosan-speaking ethnic group on the peninsula.

The KIZ scientists who explored the DNA and Y chromosome information of the Cham people were led by Zhang Yaping with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The group's maternal genes turned out to be mainly inherited from locals and Formosan speakers, while the paternal had southeastern Asian origins.

Researchers speculate the genomic connections might result from historic Southeastern and South Asian interactions.