New York - Many Ashkenazi Jews Descended From Just Four Women

New York - A genetic study indicates that some 3-and-a-half million of today's Ashkenazi Jews - about 40 percent of the total Ashkenazi population - are descended from just four women.
The women apparently lived in Europe within the last 2 to 3 thousand years, but not in the same place -- or even the same century.

Each woman left a genetic signature that shows up in their descendants today, as reported and published online by the American Journal of Human Genetics.

Together, their four signatures appear in about 40 percent of Ashkenazi Jews, while being virtually absent in non-Jews and found only rarely in Jews of non-Ashkenazi origin.
It concludes that the Ashkenazi communities of Northern and Central Europe were founded by men and their wives migrated to Europe together who came from the Middle East, perhaps as traders.
The total Ashkenazi population today is estimated at around 8 million people. The estimated world Jewish population is about 13 million.

The study involved mito-chondrial DNA, called mtDNA, which is passed only through the mother. A woman can pass her mtDNA to grandchildren only by having daughters.