The Journey of Man: A Genetic OdysseyRandom House Trade Paperbacks, 2003 - 218 pages Around 60,000 years ago, a man—genetically identical to us—lived in Africa. Every person alive today is descended from him. How did this real-life Adam wind up as the father of us all? What happened to the descendants of other men who lived at the same time? And why, if modern humans share a single prehistoric ancestor, do we come in so many sizes, shapes, and races? Examining the hidden secrets of human evolution in our genetic code, Spencer Wells reveals how developments in the revolutionary science of population genetics have made it possible to create a family tree for the whole of humanity. Replete with marvelous anecdotes and remarkable information, from the truth about the real Adam and Eve to the way differing racial types emerged, The Journey of Man is an enthralling, epic tour through the history and development of early humankind. |
From inside the book
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Page 30
... ( mtDNA ) are ten times more common than in the rest of our genome , it was a good place to look . Rebecca Cann , as part of her PhD work in Wilson's laboratory , began to study the pattern of mtDNA variation in humans from around the ...
... ( mtDNA ) are ten times more common than in the rest of our genome , it was a good place to look . Rebecca Cann , as part of her PhD work in Wilson's laboratory , began to study the pattern of mtDNA variation in humans from around the ...
Page 72
... mtDNA , and three in the case of the Y * . For both the Y - chromosome and mtDNA , one cluster is more common than the other ( s ) , accounting for around 60 per cent of the non - African branches ( or lineages ) in the case of ...
... mtDNA , and three in the case of the Y * . For both the Y - chromosome and mtDNA , one cluster is more common than the other ( s ) , accounting for around 60 per cent of the non - African branches ( or lineages ) in the case of ...
Page 154
... mtDNA data alone they have very similar patterns of mtDNA markers . Nonetheless , the mtDNA result was suggestive . What was needed was to look at the male lineage , with its greater inherent resolution , in order to see if it showed ...
... mtDNA data alone they have very similar patterns of mtDNA markers . Nonetheless , the mtDNA result was suggestive . What was needed was to look at the male lineage , with its greater inherent resolution , in order to see if it showed ...
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Common terms and phrases
actually Adam Africa agriculture analysis ancient animals anthropologists apes appear Asian Australia Cavalli-Sforza cent central Asia China chromosomes clan climate coastal colleagues common ancestor continent culture Darwin defined descendants developed earliest early human east Asia Eurasian Europe Europeans evolution evolutionary expansion extinct favour frequency genes genetic data genetic diversity genetic pattern genetic variation geneticists genome hominid Homo erectus human diversity human genetic human migration human populations hunter-gatherers hunting ice age impala India Indo-European languages infer ingredients journey known last ice age leap lifestyle linguistic living marker Mediterranean Middle East Middle Eastern migration million mitochondrial DNA modern humans molecules mtDNA mutations Native Americans Neanderthals Neolithic non-African northern nucleotide origin past perhaps polymorphisms population genetics recent region route sample Siberia simply soup recipes south-east Asia southern species spoken spread steppe suggests thousands trace unique Upper Palaeolithic western Y-chromosome lineages