Population genetic structure of the Ashkenazi Jewish population. Homo sapiens

The Ashkenazi Jewish population has long been considered a genetic isolate and presumed to have the genetic signatures of founder effects and isolation. We genotyped a large cohort of Ashkenazi Jews and analyzed their genetic structure compared to other worldwide populations. Overall design: We genotyped 471 normal control Ashkenazi Jewish individuals with the Affymetrix 6.0 array and analyzed their genetic structure relative to other Europe and worldwide populations. We measured heterozygosity, linkage disequilibrium, identity-by-descent and used extended haplotype tests of positive selection.