Research results using samples and information of BioBank Japan (BBJ) have been published in the international scientific journal Nature Communications.

Research group led by Kenichi Yamamoto, Associate Professor of Osaka University and Yukinori Okada, Professor of the University of Tokyo found that a triple genetic structure—Jomon ancestry, Northeast Asian ancestry, and East Asian ancestry—fits the genetic origins of Japanese populations across the archipelago. This result was demonstrated through biobank-scale analyses that combined BBJ’s dataset of 171,287 individuals with ancient Japanese and Eurasian genomes. Furthermore, the group discovered that the Jomon component in the modern Japanese genome is associated with an elevation of Body Mass Index (BMI).

Original paper

Genetic legacy of ancient hunter-gatherer Jomon in Japanese populations
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-54052-0
Published date: Nov. 12, 2024

Press release article from the University of Tokyo (Japanese only)

https://www.ims.u-tokyo.ac.jp/imsut/jp/about/press/page_00307.html

Press release PDF (Japanese only)