• Submitted by: Camila
• Society
• 03 / 11 / 2015

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Cubans have, on average, 72 percent of genes of European ancestry, 20 percent of Africans and eight percent Native American, says new research from the National Centre for Medical Genetics (CNGM).

Dr. Beatriz Marcheco, director of CNGM said Tuesday the official news agency Prensa Latina that the study on the genetic structure of the Cuban population and ethnicity, was conducted with a sample designed by the National Bureau of Statistics.

The sample represents people from all provinces and 81 percent of the country's municipalities.

Marcheco gave a lecture on ethnic mix and genetic identity in Cuba, the International Convention of Anthropology Anthropos 2015, which meets in the Palace of Conventions in Havana.

"For the first time a technology to track the genetic information (DNA) presence of genes of African, Native American and European, which are the main groups that led the Cuban population was used," said the expert.

From the medical point of view, "its importance lies in facilitating the understanding of the causes of major diseases among Cubans, since many are associated with genetic risk factors, such as cancer and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases".

Source: Diario de Cuba