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| Genes are strange entities. For, an
apple-cheeked Kashmiri may look totally different
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from a green-eyed Mangalorean or a
kinkily curly-haired Keralite, but these differences are only skin deep.
Literally. Conducted by researchers drawn from the Central Forensic
Science Laboratory (CFSL) and the Anthropological Survey of India (asi),
Calcutta, the study shows genetic variation within populations is more
than 97 per cent. In plainspeak, more than 97 per cent of human genetic
variation exists among individuals within the same population group;
differences between major groups constitute less than 3 per cent of the
variation. (A result of genetic differentiation accumulating within
isolated population groups that split from each other at some hypothetical
point in time.) This suggests only a teeny-weeny fraction of genetic
features are distinctive to particular populations and, therefore,
apparent differences between human groups�height, hair texture, skin
colour, skull shape�arise due to differences in a tiny proportion of
genetic traits.
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