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Updated: Mar 31, 2026

Targeted Next-generation Sequencing and Bioinformatics Pipeline to Evaluate Genetic Determinants of Constitutional Disease
Published on: April 4, 2018
Kuwaiti population subgroup of nomadic Bedouin ancestry-Whole genome sequence and analysis
Sumi Elsa John1, Gaurav Thareja1, Prashantha Hebbar1
1Dasman Diabetes Institute, P.O. Box 1180, Dasman 15462, Kuwait.
Abstract:
Kuwaiti native population comprises three distinct genetic subgroups of Persian, "city-dwelling" Saudi Arabian tribe, and nomadic "tent-dwelling" Bedouin ancestry. Bedouin subgroup is characterized by presence of 17% African ancestry; it owes it origin to nomadic tribes of the deserts of Arabian Peninsula and North Africa. By sequencing whole genome of a Kuwaiti male from this subgroup at 41X coverage, we report 3,752,878 SNPs, 411,839 indels, and 8451 structural variations. Neighbor-joining tree, based on shared variant positions carrying disease-risk alleles between the Bedouin and other continental genomes, places Bedouin genome at the nexus of African, Asian, and European genomes in concordance with geographical location of Kuwait and Peninsula. In congruence with participant's medical history for morbid obesity and bronchial asthma, risk alleles are seen at deleterious SNPs associated with obesity and asthma. Many of the observed deleterious 'novel' variants lie in genes associated with autosomal recessive disorders characteristic of the region.
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