Overview

• The GenomeAsia100K study, published in *Science*, analyzed 1,537 genomes from 139 ethnic groups to map a 20,000-km migration from North Asia to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.
• The migration, spanning thousands of years, culminated in the arrival of early humans at the Panama-Colombia border around 14,000 years ago, followed by a divergence into four distinct lineages in South America.
• Successive population bottlenecks during the journey reduced genetic diversity, particularly in immune-related genes, impacting disease resistance in Indigenous populations.
• The study highlights greater genomic diversity in Asian populations compared to Europeans, addressing biases in past genetic research and emphasizing the need for broader representation.
• These findings fill critical gaps in understanding modern Indigenous South American ancestry and provide insights into human adaptation to diverse environments.