I'm a bit interested to see how many of us on this forum who've had their genome sequenced have the East-African and Arabian variants of Lactase Persistence that tend to be found among Somalis and other Horners so, if you're comfortable, please share your results by checking your raw data. Basically, there are three Lactase Persistence evolutions among Humans that allow some of us to keep drinking milk into adulthood without digestive issues:
These three are mostly "proposed" and not iron-clad:
It seems the East-African, Arabian and European routes all evolved separately. Outside of these genetic routes Humans either developed some sort of microbiome adaption like what has been argued for some East-Asians like Mongols and even perhaps the recent Japanese (see here) or a lot of milk-drinking cultures, contrary to popular belief, just didn't really drink much straight milk. In a lot of cases they'd make yoghurt drinks, yoghurt, cheeses and the like which basically ferments out most if not sometimes all of the Lactose (see here and here) which makes it more comfortably consumable for non-lactase persistent people. This is why, for example, Mediterranean Europeans and more northerly MENAs tend to have a more prolific cheese and yoghurt making culture than Northern Europeans, Arabians and Coastal Cushites like Somalis; our ancestors had much less of a need to bother with fermenting dairy products.
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All you need to do is copy each SNP like "rs41525747" and just CTRL+F through your .txt file/raw data file and see if you have the derived alleles.
I'll go first:
I am fully derived (G) for the second SNP among East-African variants (rs41525747):
rs41525747 2 136608643 GG
The other SNPs sadly don't pop up in my 23andme raw data (weren't sampled) except for the second among the proposed SNPs (rs4988233) where I'm not derived (T) at all:
rs4988233 2 136608747 GG
But I am also fully derived for the Arabian variant:
rs41380347 2 136608651 AA
And I'm obviously not derived at all for the European variant but some of you feel free to check that one as well. Maybe your awoowe or ayeeyo got busy with some Taliyaani or Brit (unlikely as this would probably show up in your autosomal DNA results as such contact with these groups is fairly recent) or you more likely got it via admixture from reer Gibil-Cad who may have the European variant via Iranic and Central Asian roots. An Iranian-Kuwaiti friend of mine is fully derived for the European variant so it's possible via the Gibil-Cad route, in my humble opinion.
In my case, those results I do have mean I pretty much have the genetics for highly likely lactase persistence into adulthood. Meaning I should be able to still digest milk comfortably throughout my adult life via both the Cushitic and Semitic routes. And this holds true. Don't struggle with milk and dairy products at all. Can chug well over a liter in in less than a minute with no issues.
1. East African variants
- SNP: rs145946881
- Gene region: MCM6 (upstream of LCT)
- Derived (lactase-persistent) allele: C
- Common in: Horners like Somali, Oromo, Afar, Amharas, Tigrinya, Bejas and other Cushitic and Ethiosemitic-speaking groups
- SNP: rs41525747 (−13907 G)
- Derived allele: G
- Common in: Sudanese and Ethiopian groups (e.g., Beja, some Afar and Oromo).
- SNP: rs869051967 (−14009 G)
- Derived allele: G
- Common in: Beja and neighboring Northeast African populations; sometimes co-occurs with the −14010 C allele.
These three are mostly "proposed" and not iron-clad:
- SNP: rs41456145 (−13913 C)
- Derived allele: C
- Common in: Low-frequency variant in some Ethiopian groups; functional evidence modest but associated with higher LCT expression.
- SNP: rs4988233 (−14011 T)
- Derived allele: T
- Common in: Low frequency in parts of East Africa; evidence limited.
- SNP: rs527991977 (−13779 C)
Derived allele: C
Common in: Detected sporadically in East African datasets; functional support limited.
2. Arabian variant
- SNP: rs41380347
- Derived allele: A
- Common in: Arabian Peninsula (e.g., Yemen, Oman, Saudi Arabia) and Horn/Sudanese populations
3. European variant
- SNP: rs4988235
- Derived allele: A
- Common in: Europeans, some North Africans, South Asians
It seems the East-African, Arabian and European routes all evolved separately. Outside of these genetic routes Humans either developed some sort of microbiome adaption like what has been argued for some East-Asians like Mongols and even perhaps the recent Japanese (see here) or a lot of milk-drinking cultures, contrary to popular belief, just didn't really drink much straight milk. In a lot of cases they'd make yoghurt drinks, yoghurt, cheeses and the like which basically ferments out most if not sometimes all of the Lactose (see here and here) which makes it more comfortably consumable for non-lactase persistent people. This is why, for example, Mediterranean Europeans and more northerly MENAs tend to have a more prolific cheese and yoghurt making culture than Northern Europeans, Arabians and Coastal Cushites like Somalis; our ancestors had much less of a need to bother with fermenting dairy products.
-------------
All you need to do is copy each SNP like "rs41525747" and just CTRL+F through your .txt file/raw data file and see if you have the derived alleles.
I'll go first:
I am fully derived (G) for the second SNP among East-African variants (rs41525747):
rs41525747 2 136608643 GG
The other SNPs sadly don't pop up in my 23andme raw data (weren't sampled) except for the second among the proposed SNPs (rs4988233) where I'm not derived (T) at all:
rs4988233 2 136608747 GG
But I am also fully derived for the Arabian variant:
rs41380347 2 136608651 AA
And I'm obviously not derived at all for the European variant but some of you feel free to check that one as well. Maybe your awoowe or ayeeyo got busy with some Taliyaani or Brit (unlikely as this would probably show up in your autosomal DNA results as such contact with these groups is fairly recent) or you more likely got it via admixture from reer Gibil-Cad who may have the European variant via Iranic and Central Asian roots. An Iranian-Kuwaiti friend of mine is fully derived for the European variant so it's possible via the Gibil-Cad route, in my humble opinion.
In my case, those results I do have mean I pretty much have the genetics for highly likely lactase persistence into adulthood. Meaning I should be able to still digest milk comfortably throughout my adult life via both the Cushitic and Semitic routes. And this holds true. Don't struggle with milk and dairy products at all. Can chug well over a liter in in less than a minute with no issues.
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