"We... observed 48% South-Asian-specific (mitochondrial or mt) lineages (those inherited from a maternal ancestor) among the ancient samples (from the Parsi population of the Indian sub continent), which might have resulted from the assimilation of local females during the initial settlement,” according to Dr Kumarasamy Thangaraj, principal scientist from the Hyderabad based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), who led an international research project on Parsi lineage involving scientists from India, Pakistan, Estonia, and the UK. The results of the study were published in the journal Genome Biology on June 14, 2017. An abstract of the report is published on the website of the journal: https://genomebiology.biomedcentral.com. Thangaraj told The Times of India of June 16 that "We have done extensive analysis using... (several) DNA markers...and found that they (early Parsi settlers) genetically admixed with the Indian population about 1,200 years ago. While the study reiterates what has been found in similar projects over the years, "it gains significance as the researchers used extremely modern techniques to prove the basis,” stated TOI.
Archeologist Dr Kurush Dalal, credited as one of the 25 contributors to the study informed Parsiana on June 26 that his contribution to the project was that of "the excavator of Sanjan, where the bones were recovered (see "Searching in Sanjan,” Parsiana, August, 2004).” Dalal had led a team of archeologists over a three-year project that resulted in the excavation of a dakhma and other artefacts in the west coast city. "I was dutifully being acknowledged for my part of the process. The genetics part was essentially done by Gyaneshwar Chaubey and his team,” he mentions.
The findings of the studies of Iranian and Parsi genes "support a male-mediated migration of the ancestors of the present-day Parsi population from Iran to India, where they admixed with local females… leading ultimately to the loss of (mt)DNAs of Iranian origin,” stated researcher Lluis Quintana-Murci in an article titled "Where West Meets East: The complex mtDNA Landscape of the Southwest and Central Asian Corridor,” published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, 2004 (see "Mission impossible,” Editorial Viewpoint, Parsiana, December 7, 2014).
The CCMB study has revealed that "Parsis are genetically closer to the ancient Neolithic Iranians, followed by present day Middle Eastern (Iranian and Caucasian) populations,” stated the TOI report.