Asian Americans are traditionally defined as individuals with Asian ancestry living in the United States. The major Asian groups that make up Asian Americans typically include but are not limited to Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, Koreans, Vietnamese, and Indians. The Asian Americans population has grown dramatically in the last two decades and continues to grow. Approximately half of the immigrants entering America are Asian and in the year 2000 there were eleven million Asian Americans in the United States. Although this population is currently dispersed through out the United States, 40 percent of Asian Americans are concentrated in California.

Asian immigration to the United States largely began with the California Gold Rush in 1848. The Chinese were the first Asians to immigrate to the West Coast of the United States to take advantage of the gold rush and were later followed by the Japanese, Filipinos, Koreans, and Indians among others. Few Asians found gold and most went to work as cheap laborers in mining and railroad construction. Actions imposed by the U.S. government such as the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Asian Exclusion Act, limited the immigration of Asians in the late 1800's and early 1900's until the acts were abolished in 1943 and 1965 respectively. This led to a dramatic increase in Asian immigration, both for those joining relatives already living in the United States along with Asians looking for new opportunities in the United States.

Asian Americans are becoming more dispersed throughout the United States, however approximately 40 percent of Asian Americans are still concentrated in California. Asian immigrant communities have been established in many major cities such as New York City, Chicago, Washington, Dallas, and Atlanta along with smaller cities as well, although they are not limited to those communities. The number of Asian immigrants to the United States continues to grow and contribute greatly to what makes the United States diverse.

Sample Name: Asian American, DNA

Sample UID: SA000136K

Sample Description:Asian American part of a collection of DNA purified samples from anonymous blood donors in community-based blood drives in southeastern and central Texas.

Number of Chromosomes: 78

Relation to Other Samples:

References:
- Bonnen PE, Story MD, Ashorn CL, Buchholz TA, Weil MM, Nelson DL. "Haplotypes at ATM Identify Coding-Sequence Variation and Indicate a Region of Extensive Linkage Disequilibrium". Am. J. Hum. Genet. 67:1437-1451. (2000) Online citation.

Sample Name: Asians

Sample UID: SA004072N

Sample Description:This sample consists of U.S.Asians. This sample is part of the NIST sample collection.

Number of Chromosomes: 100

Relation to Other Samples:

References:
- Fondevila M, Pereira R, Gusmao L, Phillips C, Lareu MV, Carracedo A, Butler JM, Vallone PM "Forensic performance of two insertion-deletion marker assays ". Int J Legal Med. 126:725-37. (2012) Online citation.

Sample Name: USA, Atlanta, Asian

Sample UID: SA002712M

Sample Description:This sample consists of specimens chosen from newborns whose mothers resided in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. Specimens from the blood spots left over from newborn screening were used. This study was conducted under the auspices of the International Clearinghouse for Birth Defect Monitoring Systems (ICBDMS) and was coordinated through its head office, the International Center on Birth Defects. Local review boards approved the study.In all cases personal identifiers were removed before data were provided to ICBD for epidemiological analysis.

Number of Chromosomes: 52

Relation to Other Samples:

References:
- Wilcken B, Bamforth F, Li Z, Zhu H, Ritvanen A, Renlund M, Stoll C, Alembik Y, Dott B, Czeizel AE, Gelman-Kohan Z, Scarano G, Bianca S, Ettore G, Tenconi R, Bellato S, Scala I, Mutchinick OM, López MA, de Walle H, Hofstra R, Joutchenko L, Kavteladze L, Bermejo E, Martínez-Frías ML, Gallagher M, Erickson JD, Vollset SE, Mastroiacovo P, Andria G, Botto LD. "Geographical and ethnic variation of the 677C>T allele of 5,10 methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR): findings from over 7000 newborns from 16 areas world wide". J Med Genet. 40:619-25.. (2003) Online citation.

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© 2012 Kenneth K Kidd, Yale University. All rights reserved. The full Copyright Notification is also available.
Originally prototyped by Michael Osier with the aid of Kei Cheung
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