Challenges

A newly discovered founder population: the Roma/Gypsies

  1. Luba Kalaydjieva1,*,
  2. Bharti Morar1,
  3. Raphaelle Chaix2,
  4. Hua Tang3

Article first published online: 14 SEP 2005

DOI: 10.1002/bies.20287

Issue

BioEssays

BioEssays

Volume 27, Issue 10, pages 1084–1094, October 2005

Additional Information

How to Cite

Kalaydjieva, L., Morar, B., Chaix, R. and Tang, H. (2005), A newly discovered founder population: the Roma/Gypsies. Bioessays, 27: 1084–1094. doi: 10.1002/bies.20287

Author Information

  1. 1

    Western Australian Institute for Medical Research and Centre for Medical Research, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia

  2. 2

    Equipe de Génétique des Populations, Unité d'Eco-Athropologie, Musée de l'Homme, Paris, France.

  3. 3

    Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA

*Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, WAIMR, B Block, QEII Medical Centre, Nedlands, WA6009, Perth, Australia.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 14 SEP 2005
  2. Article first published online: 14 SEP 2005

Funded by

  • The Wellcome Trust, the Australian Research Council and the National Health and Medical Research Council.

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Abstract

The Gypsies (a misnomer, derived from an early legend about Egyptian origins) defy the conventional definition of a population: they have no nation-state, speak different languages, belong to many religions and comprise a mosaic of socially and culturally divergent groups separated by strict rules of endogamy. Referred to as “the invisible minority”, the Gypsies have for centuries been ignored by Western medicine, and their genetic heritage has only recently attracted attention. Common origins from a small group of ancestors characterise the 8–10 million European Gypsies as an unusual trans-national founder population, whose exodus from India played the role of a profound demographic bottleneck. Social and economic pressures within Europe led to gradual fragmentation, generating multiple genetically differentiated subisolates. The string of population bottlenecks and founder effects have shaped a unique genetic profile, whose potential for genetic research can be met only by study designs that acknowledge cultural tradition and self-identity. BioEssays 27:1084–1094, 2005. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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