Impact of cultural and genetic structure on food choices along the Silk Road.

ABSTRACT: The complex interplay between genetics, culture, and environment forms an individual's biology, influencing their behavior, choices, and health. However, to what extent information derived from this intertwined network could be quantitatively summarized to provide a glance at an individual's lifestyle is difficult to say. Here, we focused on dietary preferences as cultural proxies and genome-wide data of 543 individuals from six historical Silk Road countries: Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan. These lands favored the dispersal of innovations, foods, and DNA halfway across Eurasia, thus representing an ideal subject to explore interactions of cultural factors and genetic ancestry. We used discriminant analysis of principal components to infer cultural clu

SUBMITTER: Aneli S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9704696 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature