In a recently published paper, a team of researchers of the Universities of Granada and Tor Vergata (Rome), in collaboration with IBE's Francesc Calafell, studied Y chromosome polymorphisms in samples of men named Colom (from Catalonia, Valencia, and Majorca) and Colombo (from NW Italy), and found out that, while the Colom surname had been founded by a few different men in the Middle Age, The diversity in the Colombos was as large as that of the general population, probably because it was a surname given to orphans and foundlings in Milan. These findings can be used to approach the controversial issue of Christopher Columbus' origins.

Reference Article: Martınez-Gonzalez L.J., M.-E., Alvarez J.,  Albardaner F., and O. Rickards, Martınez-Labarga,  C.  Calafell F., Lorente J.A.  2011. Surname and Y chromosome in Southern Europe: a case study with Colom/Colombo. European Journal of Human Genetics, Ahead of print; DOI:10.1038/ejhg.2011.162.