DNA Shows Man a Descendant of Genghis Khan

Tom Robinson while visiting Juneau, Alaska on Thursday May 25, 2006. Tom Robinson had long wondered about his family tree. He never suspected its roots might lie in the Mongolian steppe. The Florida accountant knew that his great, great-grandfather had come to the United States from England _ but beyond that his research drew a blank. So he turned to the burgeoning field of "bioarchaeology," having his DNA tested to see what it revealed about his origins. He was in for a surprise. According to a British geneticist who pioneered the research, Robinson appears to be a direct descendant of Genghis Khan, the Mongol warrior who conquered vast tracts of Asia and Europe in the 13th century. (AP Photo/David J. Sheakley) (David J. Sheakley - AP)

Research published in the American Journal of Human Genetics in 2003 suggested that 16 to 17 million men, most in Central Asia, shared a form of the Y chromosome that indicates a common ancestor.

Sykes said the obvious candidate is Genghis Khan, who stormed the world with his armies, conquering territory and siring many children. Lacking any tissue samples from the Mongol ruler _ whose tomb has never been found _ the tests are based on an assessment of probabilities.

"This is circumstantial evidence but it is very good evidence," said Sykes. "I think it does mean that people who carry this chromosome are direct patrilineal descendants of Genghis Khan.

"How this chromosome came to be so prominent was that when he conquered new territory Genghis Khan would kill the men and routinely inseminate all the women."

Some scientists are less certain the chromosome points directly to the Mongol chief.

"It's a little bit of a stretch as far as I'm concerned," said Peter Underhill, a Stanford University geneticist who thinks the distinctive Y chromosome would have been present in many members of Genghis Khan's closely interrelated tribe.

"Genghis Khan had this marker, but Joe Smith in the Genghis Khan army also had this Y chromosome."

Proven or not, Robinson's link may well make him a celebrity in Mongolia, a vast country of 2.5 million sandwiched between China and Russia renowned for its rolling grasslands, sturdy horses and nomadic herders.

This year the country is celebrating the 800th anniversary of 1206, the year a warrior named Temujin united the nomadic steppe tribes and took the title Genghis Khan _ Universal Ruler.

He and his descendants built _ and then lost _ an empire that stretched from the Sea of Japan to the Danube.

Condemned during Mongolia's 70 years of communist rule as a symbol of a backward past, Genghis Khan is now celebrated by Mongolians as the father of their nation

Many Western academics also have reassessed the great Khan's legacy, arguing that he was a brilliant military tactician, innovative ruler and early globalizer whose empire saw an unprecedented mingling of goods and cultures along the Silk Road trade route linking China to Europe.