Universitas Scientiarum ISSN: 0122-7483
[email protected] Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Colombia Noguera-Santamaría, María Claudia; Edlund Anderson, Carl; Uricoechea, Daniel; Durán, Clemencia; Briceño-Balcázar, Ignacio; Bernal Villegas, Jaime Mitochondrial DNA analysis suggests a Chibchan migration into Colombia Universitas Scientiarum, vol. 20, núm. 2, mayo-agosto, 2015, pp. 261-278 Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Bogotá, Colombia Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=49935358008 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative Univ. Sci. 2015, Vol. 20 (2): 261-278 doi: 10.11144/Javeriana.SC20-2.mdas Freely available on line original paper Mitochondrial DNA analysis suggests a Chibchan migration into Colombia María Claudia Noguera-Santamaría 1, 2, 5 , Carl Edlund Anderson 3, Daniel Uricoechea 2, Clemencia Durán 1, Ignacio Briceño-Balcázar 1, 2 , Jaime Bernal Villegas 1, 4 Abstract The characterization of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) allows the establishment of genetic structures and phylogenetic relationships in human populations, tracing lineages far back in time. We analysed samples of mtDNA from twenty (20) Native American populations (700 individuals) dispersed throughout Colombian territory. Samples were collected during 1989-1993 in the context of the program Expedición Humana (“Human Expedition”) and stored in the Biological Repository of the Institute of Human Genetics (IGH) at the Ponticia Universidad Javeriana (Bogotá, Colombia). Haplogroups were determined by analysis of RFLPs. Most frequent was haplogroup A, with 338 individuals (48.3%). Haplogroup A is also one of the most frequent haplogroups in Mesoamerica, and we interpret our nding as supporting models that propose Chibchan-speaking groups migrated to northern Colombia from Mesoamerica in prehistoric times.