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Nobody has Genghis Khan's DNA
The Star-Shaped Lineage
The paper, The Genetic Legacy of the Mongols, found that about 0.5 percent of the world's men descend through the male line from one man. One reading is that belonging to the lineage of Genghis Khan carried social status, so it spread through many generations across a vast empire. The figure counts only male-line descendants, so the number of descendants overall could be far larger.
Doubts About the Link
The other reading is that nothing ties the lineage to him. No DNA from Genghis Khan exists, because nobody knows where he is buried, and the lineage could come from someone two hundred years earlier. His descendants were almost all recorded for generations, and he had four wives and children with only two. His brother Khasar had many more children, and Bodonchar is another candidate. Every Turkic nation traces back to Mongolia too, as did the Huns.
How does Y-chromosome tracing work?
The Y chromosome passes from father to son with very little change. Occasional mutations mark branches, and men who share the same set of mutations descend from the same male ancestor. Geneticists count the mutations to estimate how long ago he lived. The method follows only the male line, so it misses most of a person's ancestors.
How many men carry the lineage?
The 2003 paper, led by Tatiana Zerjal and published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, estimated about sixteen million men carry it. The lineage appears across a belt of Asia from the Pacific coast to the Caspian Sea. It arose in Mongolia about a thousand years ago. Its pattern, a sudden spread from one ancestor, is called a star cluster.
Has any other lineage spread this way?
A 2006 study from Trinity College Dublin found a lineage common among men in northwestern Ireland. The study linked it to the legendary king Niall of the Nine Hostages, who is said to have lived around 400 AD. Similar patterns have turned up for other powerful medieval dynasties. In each case it is hard to prove the link without DNA from the named ruler.
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