Markers / Gene
ACKR1
One position in this gene is readable from a home DNA test.
Duffy-null: the strongest population difference in the human genome
rs2814778 · chr1:159,174,683 · T/C · evidence: established
Plasmodium vivax malaria gets into red blood cells through the Duffy protein. A single change switches that protein off in red cells, and the parasite loses its doorway. It sits above 95 per cent across West and Central Africa and near zero in Europe and Asia, which makes it the most sharply differentiated common variant known in our species.
| If you carry | What it means |
|---|---|
| No copies | You have the Duffy protein on red cells |
| One copy | You carry one copy of the null version |
| Two copies | Duffy-null: your red cells do not carry the protein |
| Ancestry group | C (the effect version) | |
|---|---|---|
| African | 96.4% | |
| American | 7.8% | |
| East Asian | 0.0% | |
| European | 0.6% | |
| South Asian | 0.0% |
1000 Genomes Project phase 3, via Ensembl, retrieved 2026-09-23. These groupings are coarse and flatten a great deal of internal diversity, particularly within Africa. A variant being common somewhere tells you where a piece of your ancestry probably comes from, and nothing else.
Where this gene fits
If you have taken a home DNA test, these positions are already in your file.
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