Modern genetics today makes it possible not only to study the origins of peoples but also to reconstruct events that just a few decades ago seemed permanently lost to science. Ancient DNA analysis opens up the opportunity to explore the history of entire regions, establish the origin of populations, and, in some cases, even look for relatives of people who died more than a century ago.
During the interactive meeting “Genetics in Armenia: Today and Tomorrow” held at The Academy People cafe, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor Levon Yepiskoposyan spoke about several such projects. According to him, Armenian scientists are simultaneously working on several large-scale studies at once, which can significantly expand knowledge about the history of the Armenian people.
Genetic Atlas of Historical Armenia
Yepiskoposyan named the creation of the Genetic Atlas of Historical Armenia as one of the largest projects. According to him, the project’s task is to form the most detailed genetic map possible of various historical regions of Armenia.
The need for such work stems from the fact that most of historical Armenia is today outside the territory of the Republic of Armenia; however, it is there that archaeological excavations continue, during which human remains from different eras are regularly discovered.
Scientists extract ancient DNA from these remains. However, to understand who the discovered individuals were, it is necessary to have the most accurate genetic picture possible of the modern Armenian population originating from various regions of historical Armenia.
“We must be able to correlate ancient DNA with the modern population. Only then will it be possible to confidently state that the discovered remains belong to the ancestors of the Armenian population of a particular region,” the scientist explained. According to him, work on the atlas has been ongoing for about twelve years.
Why Only 400 Samples Have Been Collected
Yepiskoposyan explained that collecting the material turned out to be much more difficult than it might seem. The study includes only those individuals whose ancestors all originate from the same historical region.
For example, if the genetic profile of the inhabitants of Van is being studied, the grandparents of the person, and preferably earlier generations of the family as well, must also be natives of Van. The same requirements apply to people from Mush, Kars, Erzurum, Bashkale, and other historical regions.
This is precisely why, over twelve years, scientists have managed to collect only about four hundred fully verified samples. “Imagine how challenging this work is. We do not just collect any samples, but a maximally purified sample pool with a confirmed family origin,” the professor noted. According to him, it is this exact methodology that will allow comparing modern and ancient DNA with a high degree of reliability in the future.
DNA of the Victims of the Armenian Genocide
The professor named the study of the remains of the Armenian Genocide victims as another direction of research. According to Yepiskoposyan, modern technologies already allow extracting genetic material even from the bone remains and teeth of people who died more than a century ago.
Of particular value is a unique anthropological collection kept at Moscow State University. We are talking about the collection of the famous anthropologist Viktor Bunak.
In 1917, a young researcher Valerian Bunak was in the territories then controlled by the Russian army, where he collected more than 150 skulls of Armenian Genocide victims. This collection has survived to this day and now represents immense scientific value.
According to Yepiskoposyan, after long negotiations, he managed to get access to part of the materials. “After prolonged negotiations, we managed to obtain 42 teeth from this collection for research purposes,” the scientist reported.
Currently, these samples are at the laboratory analysis stage. The professor noted that the first results are already emerging, but it is too early to talk about them in detail. “When the research is completed, we will be able to show what information was successfully retrieved from these samples,” he said.
Is It Possible to Find Relatives of the Deceased a Century Later?
According to Yepiskoposyan, one of the most interesting prospects of such research lies in the possibility of searching for the relatives of the victims. Modern international genetic databases are constantly being expanded, and DNA analysis methods are becoming increasingly accurate.
This has already allowed scientists in various countries to identify the remains of World War I participants and establish their relatives many decades after their death. “Today, massive genetic databases exist. Thanks to them, it becomes possible to look for people’s relatives even many decades later,” the professor noted.
According to him, such technologies could potentially be used for research related to the victims of the Armenian Genocide as well. Although Yepiskoposyan refrained from making any predictions regarding specific results, he emphasized that modern science already possesses tools that until recently seemed like science fiction.
The Next Stage: The Genetic History of Armenian Communities
The work of Armenian geneticists is not limited to ancient DNA research. According to the professor, one of the promising directions will be studying the origins of various Armenian communities.
Of particular interest, according to him, are the Hamshen Armenians, the history of whose origin still remains the subject of numerous scientific discussions. In addition, there are plans to study other historical Armenian communities that formed in different periods and various regions.
“Today, genetics allows us to trace the history of individual communities much more accurately than was possible a few decades ago,” the scientist noted. According to Yepiskoposyan, the combination of data from genetics, archaeology, history, and linguistics will gradually make it possible to reconstruct the most complete picture of the formation of the Armenian nation, and new DNA analysis technologies will open more and more pages of the past that previously remained inaccessible to researchers.
