2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Clarification of Yaponesian evolution based on ancient human genome analysis.

Planned Research

PDF

Project Area	Deciphering Origin and Establishment of Japonesians mainly based on genome sequence data
Project/Area Number	18H05507
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research in a proposed research area)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Review Section	Complex systems
Research Institution	National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo
Principal Investigator	SHINODA Ken-ichi 独立行政法人国立科学博物館, その他部局等, 名誉研究員 (30131923)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	佐藤丈寛金沢大学, 医学系, 助教 (10558026) 安達登山梨大学, 大学院総合研究部, 教授 (60282125) 角田恒雄山梨大学, 大学院総合研究部, 特任助教 (80446575) 神澤秀明独立行政法人国立科学博物館, 人類研究部, 研究主幹 (80734912)
Project Period (FY)	2018-06-29 – 2023-03-31
Keywords	古代DNA解析 / 核ゲノム解析 / ミトコンドリアDNA / 縄文人 / 弥生人 / 古墳時代人 / ヤポネシア / 日本人の起源と成立
Outline of Final Research Achievements	We have analyzed the ancient genomes of 361 human skeletal remains, which were excavated from 130 archaeological sites in Japan and Korea. Due to the majority of the analyzed Yayoi remains being from the middle period of the Yayoi era, we were unable to fully grasp the genetic characteristics of the people who initially brought rice cultivation to the Japanese archipelago. However, we were able to shed some light on the genetic changes of groups spanning from the Jomon period to the Kofun and medieval periods across Japan. As a result, it was possible to depict a rough scenario of the process of population formation in the Japanese archipelago.
Free Research Field	分子人類学
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	古代ゲノム解析の分野は2022年のノーベル生理学医学賞の受賞対象となったことからも明らかなように、現在ではその成果は人類学のみならず考古学や歴史学、言語学と言った人文科学の分野にも大きな影響を与えつつある。従って本研究で，世界の時流に乗り遅れることのなく，この分野の研究を進めることができた意義は大きい。また，ゲノム解析で日本人の起源に関する詳細なシナリオが描けたことで，周辺の学問にも大きな影響を与えることになった。