Tracing the Roots of the Koraga: The Discovery of a Lost Ancestor in India's Genetic Story
I n the lush, coastal districts of South India, the Koraga people have lived for generations on the margins. Historically labelled as "untouchables," a regressive stereotype that persists today through practices like ajalu , they are among the region's underprivileged communities, their lives defined by subsistence: weaving baskets, gathering forest produce, and working as daily wage labourers. For centuries, social exclusion forced them into genetic isolation, marrying within their own community. This isolation, a source of historical hardship, has unwittingly transformed the Koraga into living vaults of ancient history. Now, their genes are speaking, and they are telling a story that challenges everything we thought we knew about the ancestral origins of over a billion people. Graphical abstract of the Reich et al. 2009 paper that described Ancestral North Indian (ANI) and Ancestral South Indian (ASI) genetic components Graphical abstract of Kerdoncuff et al. 2025 Fo...