Epigenetic aging differences between Wichí and Criollos from Argentina: Insights from genomic history and ecology.

Background And Objectives: Epigenetic estimators based on DNA methylation levels have emerged as promising biomarkers of human aging. These estimators exhibit natural variations across human groups, but data about indigenous populations remain underrepresented in research. This study aims to investigate differences in epigenetic estimators between two distinct human populations, both residing in the Gran Chaco region of Argentina, the Native-American Wichí, and admixed Criollos who are descendants of intermarriages between Native Americans and the first European colonizers, using a population genetic approach.

Analysis of population substructure in two sympatric populations of Gran Chaco, Argentina.

Sub-population structure and intricate kinship dynamics might introduce biases in molecular anthropology studies and could invalidate the efforts to understand diseases in highly admixed populations. In order to clarify the previously observed distribution pattern and morbidity of Chagas disease in Gran Chaco, Argentina, we studied two populations (Wichí and Criollos) recruited following an innovative bio-cultural model considering their complex cultural interactions. By reconstructing the genetic background and the structure of these two culturally different populations, the pattern of admixture, the correspondence between genealogical and genetic relationships, this integrated perspective had the power to validate data and to link the gap usually relying on a singular discipline.