2022
DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2022.918227
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The immunogenetic impact of European colonization in the Americas

Abstract: The introduction of pathogens originating from Eurasia into the Americas during early European contact has been associated with high mortality rates among Indigenous peoples, likely contributing to their historical and precipitous population decline. However, the biological impacts of imported infectious diseases and resulting epidemics, especially in terms of pathogenic effects on the Indigenous immunity, remain poorly understood and highly contentious to this day. Here, we examine multidisciplinary evidence … Show more

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Cited by 5 publications
(2 citation statements)
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“…This may have caused significant population declines with depopulated areas repopulated by opportunistic settlers who intermixed with the remaining original population. Such a scenario would mirror the population decline of Indigenous people in the Americas following their exposure to Eurasian diseases introduced by European colonists 57,58 . Our findings also support the interpretation of increased pathogen pressure as a driver of positive selection on immunogenetic variants associated with risk of the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis in Steppe populations around 5,000 years ago 59 , and genetic adaptations in genes involved in host-pathogen interactions having occurred predominantly after the onset of the Bronze Age in Europe 60 .…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…This may have caused significant population declines with depopulated areas repopulated by opportunistic settlers who intermixed with the remaining original population. Such a scenario would mirror the population decline of Indigenous people in the Americas following their exposure to Eurasian diseases introduced by European colonists 57,58 . Our findings also support the interpretation of increased pathogen pressure as a driver of positive selection on immunogenetic variants associated with risk of the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis in Steppe populations around 5,000 years ago 59 , and genetic adaptations in genes involved in host-pathogen interactions having occurred predominantly after the onset of the Bronze Age in Europe 60 .…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…There is also an inherent danger in grounding any historical explanation in the supposed immunological differences between Europeans and other peoples. Even if we accept that varying coevolutionary histories with pathogens are likely to have distinguished Europeans from American, Pacific and Australian populations, wide variations in resource production, population density and disease environments across these “new worlds” suggest equal degrees of variation between Indigenous peoples (Collen, Johar, Teixeira, & Llamas, 2022).…”
mentioning
confidence: 99%