A groundbreaking paleogenomic study published in Nature has analyzed the DNA of 6,000-year-old remains found in the Andaman Islands, revealing unique genetic adaptations linked to a lifelong marine-based diet. The research shows that ancient islanders possessed specific variants in metabolic genes that allowed them to efficiently process high levels of iodine and omega-3 fatty acids found in seafood, a trait not seen in mainland populations of the same era.
This genetic evidence suggests that the indigenous populations of the Andamans had already achieved a high degree of biological isolation and specialization by the mid-Holocene. The study provides critical new data on the deep evolutionary history of South Asian islanders and challenges previous theories regarding the timing of human expansion into the remote reaches of the Indian Ocean.