Genghis Khan 'descendant' not so sure after all

A United States accountancy professor said to be the first man outside Asia identified as being directly descended from Genghis Khan says he does not believe the warlord is his ancestor after all.

Last month Oxford Ancestors, a British company which offers genetic tests to people trying to trace their family trees, said DNA results showed Tom Robinson shared key chromosome markers with the 13th-century Mongol leader and was therefore a likely descendent.

Worldwide media attention followed, but when Professor Robinson was invited to Mongolia to take part in a documentary he decided to take a second test.

The results from Family Tree DNA in Houston showed that he matched some genetic markers with Genghis Khan but was not likely to be directly descended from the Mongol royal house.

Professor Robinson, of the University of Miami, said: “Family Tree did an additional test. It showed is that Genghis and I are on different branches.

“We have a common ancestor way back but I’m not descended from him.”

He added that he had discussed the results with Oxford Ancestors founder Professor Bryan Sykes earlier this week.

“He basically said if this test is was reliable then it was much less likely I was related to Genghis but that there was still a possibility,” Professor Robinson said.

He said that he was disappointed he had not been made aware of the further tests available when he was first told of the results – but was not really bothered that he could no longer boast such headline-grabbing ancestry.

“There’s a slim chance that there is still a relationship but I think it is pretty slim,” he added.

Professor Robinson said he had agreed to give Oxford Ancestors another DNA sample for them to retest.

A spokesman for the company said it was “sticking to its guns“.

“Tom Robinson matched Oxford Ancestors’ criteria for identifying his descent as being of Genghis Khan,” he said.

“The test carried out fulfilled our requirements. We are happy to retest him.”

Research published in 2003 suggested that 16 to 17 million men, most in Central Asia, shared a form of the Y chromosome that indicates a common ancestor.

They said the obvious candidate was Genghis, whose brutal armies would kill the men and impregnate the women when they conquered new territory.