@article{3050499, title = "Dating the origin of the CCR5-Delta 32 AIDS-resistance allele by the coalescence of haplotypes", author = "Stephens, JC and Reich, DE and Goldstein, DB and Shin, HD and Smith, MW and and Carrington, M and Winkler, C and Huttley, GA and Allikmets, R and and Schriml, L and Gerrard, B and Malasky, M and Ramos, MD and Morlot, S and and Tzetis, M and Oddoux, C and di Giovine, FS and Nasioulas, G and and Chandler, D and Aseev, M and Hanson, M and Kalaydjieva, L and Glavac, D and and Gasparini, P and Kanavakis, E and Claustres, M and Kambouris, M and and Ostrer, H and Duff, G and Baranov, V and Sibul, H and Metspalu, A and and Goldman, D and Martin, N and Duffy, D and Schmidtke, J and Estivill, X and and O'Brien, SJ and Dean, M", journal = "American Journal of Human Genetics", year = "1998", volume = "62", number = "6", pages = "1507-1515", publisher = "University of Chicago Press", issn = "0002-9297, 1537-6605", doi = "10.1086/301867", abstract = "The CCR5-Delta 32 deletion obliterates the CCR5 chemokine and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 coreceptor on lymphoid cells, leading to strong resistance against HIV-1 infection and AIDS. A genotype survey of 4,166 individuals revealed a dine of CCR5-Delta 32 allele frequencies of 0%-14% across Eurasia, whereas the variant is absent among native African, American Indian, and East Asian ethnic groups. Haplotype analysis of 192 Caucasian chromosomes revealed strong linkage disequilibrium between CCR5 and two microsatellite loci. By use of coalescence theory to interpret modern haplotype genealogy, we estimate the origin of the CCR5-Delta 32-containing ancestral haplotype to be similar to 700 years ago, with an estimated range of 275-1,875 years. The geographic dine of CCR5-Delta 32 frequencies and its recent emergence are consistent with a historic strong selective event (e.g., an epidemic of a pathogen that, like HIV-1, utilizes CCR5), driving its frequency upward in ancestral Caucasian populations." }