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SPECULATIVE SCIENCE

I have heard it said that a higher proportion of Basque people have O-negative blood than other populations and that this is because they are the oldest ethnically pure group in Europe. Is there any truth in this assertion? Is blood group an inherited characteristic?

Peter Hanson, London N21
  • Blood groups are inherited. See Blood Groups in Man by R R Race and Ruth Sanger.

    Adrian Smith, Headingley
  • Your blood group is certainly inherited. This is why, until the recent advent of DNA fingerprinting, blood group was one of the major factors in helping to establish disputed parenthood. It is therefore possible that in an ethnically pure community, any inherent anomalous blood group distribution would be perpetuated. Quite why they would have started with the anomaly is another matter.

    Tim Waterfield, Montreal ,Canada
  • The idea that the Basques might be a ?relic population? that had suffered no significant admixture was put forward in the 1930s and 40?s (see for instance AE Mourant, Nature 11 Oct. 1947, pg. 505-6) and was based on the observation that the Basques showed high frequencies of blood group O, the lowest frequency in Europe of group B, and the highest in the world of Rh negative. The same idea can be dated back to at least 1539, although this time on linguistic grounds. Blood groups are indeed inherited and therefore are genetic traits, but observations based on one or a few genetic systems cannot reliably reproduce the whole history of populations. A more recent and comprehensive work, including many genes, showed that although the main affiliation of the Basques was with the other European populations, they nevertheless showed some distinctive features. Again the interpretation of this observation was that Basques were a locally evolved population since prehistoric times (Upper Paleolithic, c. 30000 years ago) who resisted much of the genetic homogenization brought about by the expansion of early agriculturists across Europe (starting about 10000 years ago from the Near East). However this is just one hypothesis and possibly other scenarios can similarly explain this peculiarity without invoking an older ancestry (such as genetic drift due to some degree of isolation). If the Basques were once very distinctive genetically, perhaps for socio-ecological reasons, that difference has largely been eroded by more recent interbreeding with surrounding populations. From the historical record it is clear that Basques, although aware of their cultural identity, have contributed significantly to the history of the wider world; they were skillful navigators and ship builders (some say taught by the Vikings) and successful entrepreneurs, who contributed to Spanish industrialization (which by the way brought in a substantial number of immigrants from the poorest regions of Spain). Interested readers are referred to the book ?The Basque History of the World? by Mark Kurlansky.

    Santos Alonso and John Armour, Nottingham
  • The origins of the Basques have long been debated. Mark Kurlansky in his book The Basque History of the World outlines many of these theories. The main reason they are considered separate from other nationalities in Europe is that their language is not Indo-European, and is unlike any other language in the world. Basques identify themselves by their language; to be a Basque ? Euskera ? means to be a speaker of the Basque language, not a member of a "nation". One of the more scientific attempts to discover their origins was investigation of their blood group. It was found that Basques have the highest concentration of type O blood in the world ? more than 50% of the population, with an even higher percentage in remote areas where Basque is more widely spoken. Basques also have a higher incidence of Rhesus-negative blood than anyone else in the world. Some scientists have argued this demonstrates that Basques are direct descendants of Cro-Magnon man because other areas where Cro-Magnon man existed, such as the Atlas Mountain in Morocco or the Canaries, also have a high incidence of Rhesus-negative. Rhesus-negative blood in a pregnant woman can fatally poison a foetus with Rhesus-positive blood, and the Basques still have a relatively high incidence of miscarriage and stillbirths. It has been argued that this is why the Basques remained a small population in a confined, mostly mountainous area while other populations in Spain, France and Portugal expanded.

    Tim Chadwick, London NW5
  • It has been said, though less often believed, that these genetic differences are due to the fact that the Basques are descended from survivors of Atlantis.

    M Robinson, Rainham, England
  • The questioner seems to assume that there is some meaning to the phrase 'ethnically pure' beyond National Socialist sloganising and also that there is some significance to blood group distribution. Blood group distribution actually varies county by county in the UK. I believe that the most common blood group in Scotland is A+ while in England it is O+.

    Quentin Langley, Woking, UK


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