Precisely how humans came to initially populate Asia is in contention. It is generally agreed upon that humans, after migrating out of Africa, moved along the coastline, settled along the way, and eventually pushed inland. Another hypothesis posits that humans passed through the mountainous regions by following waterways. Asia is home to several great waterways which could have created hospitable environments and pathways for migration. If humans did move inland following the river systems, Myanmar probably served as the corridor.

Recently, Dr. ZHANG Yaping and Dr. KONG Qingpeng of the Kunming Institute of Zoology (KIZ) of Chinese Academy of Sciences began investigating the Myanmar hypothesis by gathering genetic samples from several Burmese populations. After collecting more than 845 samples from 14 different Burmese populations, the researchers analysed Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) along with 5907 previously published samples and found that somewhere between 50 and 20,000 years ago, there was an enrichment in the basal lineage of the mtDNA. The result suggested that Myanmar was an important site of differentiation when human arrived in south-east Asia.

Further analysis of the basal lineages revealed several shared haplogroups dated back to around 200 BCE, which was likely due either to population expansion or trade. Other shared haplogroups dated even further back to somewhere between 20,000 and 10,000 years ago. In conclusion, genetic evidence of both recent gene flow and ancient migration provides strong support for the hypothesis that humans migrated along waterways, as well as along the coast.

The research has been published on "Scientific Reports”.