Could you be related to Genghis Khan? http://www.observer.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,906044,00.html Warlord Khan has 16m male relatives alive now, says study Robin McKie, science editor Sunday March 2, 2003 The Observer One in every 200 men alive today is a relative of Genghis Khan. An international team of geneticists has made the astonishing discovery that more than 16 million men in central Asia have the same male Y chromosome as the great Mongol leader. It is a striking finding: a huge chunk of modern humanity can trace its origins to Khan's vigorous policy of claiming the most beautiful women captured during his merciless conquest. 'One thirteenth century Persian historian claimed that within a century of Khan's birth, his enthusiastic mating habits had created a lineage of more than 20,000 individuals,' said team leader Dr Chris Tyler-Smith. 'That now appears to account for around 8% of the men in central Asia.' The team, from Britain, Italy, China and Uzbekistan, took tissue samples from 2,000 men from central Asia, and studied each one's Y chromosome, the genetic package that confers maleness and is passed only from father to son. 'Y chromosomes belonging to different men vary slightly. One in every 5,000 DNA units is not the same,' said Tyler-Smith. 'But when we looked at our results, we found a huge group that did not show any differences. We were absolutely amazed.' One researcher, Tatiana Zerjal, even suggested they had found the genetic footprint of Khan. 'It was just a joke,' added Tyler-Smith. 'Then we began to look more closely at our results, and realised it was the only really feasible explanation for what we had found.' First the team, whose results are published in the latest edition of the American Journal of Human Genetics, found the geographical spread of possessors of the chromosomes almost exactly matched that of Genghis's empire, which stretched from China to the Middle East. Then they discovered that all of these men shared a common ancestor. Again the answer was consistent with the march of Khan, who lived between 1162 and 1227. 'There are only two ways a single Y chromosome can make such a mark on a population,' Tyler-Smith said. 'The chromosome could in some way confer its owners with some biological advantage. But given that a Y chromosome is little more than a biochemical switch that turns an embryo into a male child, it is hard to see how it could have such an effect. 'The other explanation is that its original possessor had some incredible social advantage over other Y chromosome possessors, allowing its owner to pass it on, over and over again. Khan fits that bill perfectly. He had many wives, and was enthusiastic in his attentions to other women. When Mongol armies attacked, their spoils were shared among the troops and officers, with one exception. The most beautiful women were reserved for Khan. The study also sided with the Hazara people of northern Pakistan, whose claim to be direct descendants of Khan is derided by historians. It found the Hazaras' Y chromosomes were identical to those they had already linked to Khan. 'It is not the first time the oral tradition has been proved more reliable than academic treatise,' he added. 'It takes the power of genetics to prove it, however.'
Damn, I'd hate to have to buy Christmas gifts for that big a family. A lot would just have to get cards this year.
Ladies and gentlemen, presenting your father and mine, the one and only, playa playa from the Himalayas.....Genghis Khan!
Of course the Pimp would have to report this. That man got some serious play. Also take into account that he had to sleep with way more than 20,000 women to get 20,000 kids. I would say he was well over the 30k mark. He must have been sleeping with 4 or 5 a day or something like that. Wow. Big props to the man with the Golden Rod.
hmmm...this story seems kind of silly to me he lived for 65 years and lets say he had about 50 years of reproductive activity in him. of those 50 years he would have had to IMPREGNATED 800 women a year. thats about 40,000 women. i say 40,000 because i am guessing about half of those kids would not reach puberty. khan may have been a baller with the ladies but come on.
I think you guys need to read the story again. It says that within a century of Khan's birth, his enthusiastic mating habits had created a lineage of more than 20,000 individuals. I'm sure most of those people started a bit younger than we did, so I'm sure by the age of 15, most of them we're having kids. If he had sex only once a day with a different woman and only impregnated 10% of them, that's still 35 kids a year. If he did that for 50 years, that's 1750 kids. What you have to realize though is that even if only half of them lived long enough to bear their own children, and even if they only averaged two kids each, he'd have 1750 grandkids, and by the time he was 30, he'd have grandkids old enough to produce, and by the time he was 45, he'd probably have great grandkids who could produce. By the time he would have been 100, he'd have all kinds of progeny reproducing. The exponential effect wouldn't take too long to get to 20,000.
