Human Evolution

[Loki]

Someone send this to Akin.

[Darwinsbulldog]

Gibbons, A. (2012). "A Crystal-Clear View of an Extinct Girl's Genome." Science 337(6098): 1028-1029.

Researchers have sequenced the genome of an archaic Siberian girl 31 times over, using a new method that amplifies single strands of DNA. As the team reports online in Science this week, more than 99% of the nucleotides are sequenced at least 10 times, so researchers have as sharp a picture of this ancient genome as of a living person's. That precision allows the team to compare the nuclear genome of this girl, who lived in Siberia's Denisova Cave more than 50,000 years ago, directly to the genomes of living people, producing a "near-complete" catalog of the small number of genetic changes that make us different from the Denisovans, who were close relatives of Neandertals.

FREE Interview:-

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/su...8.DC1/1028.mp3

[Lucy]

That's amazing they managed to sequence the whole genome using ancient DNA! I've seen a few talks about ancient DNA, sequencing DNA mostly from animals or birds like the Moa, but there are always a few gaps in the sequences because of degradation over time. Very interesting stuff cheers for sharing

[Glob]

This is excellent news, especially the development of a reliable method for single strand sequencing. Bring the price down and this will blow up in a big way.

[Darwinsbulldog]

Denisovans are really Atlantians. We should bring her to life so that she can build us a Stargate, and show us how to ascend. Then we can chew the fat with god. On boring days we can go destroy Replicators, and then get rid of the pesky Ori and Ga'ould! The Wraith are OK, kinda engaging in an odd sort of way, if you ignore their table-manners. :-)

I think I need a nap!

[Aldaron]

If you immediately know that the candlelight is fire, then the meal was cooked a long time ago...

[Darwinsbulldog]

Just stumbled on this little paper while researching for something else. Good ammo in case we get a visit from a racial bigot.

Parra, E. J., R. A. Kittles, et al. (2004). "Implications of correlations between skin color and genetic ancestry for biomedical research." Nat Genet.

Skin pigmentation is a central element of most discussions on 'race' and genetics. Research on the genetic basis of population variation in this phenotype, which is important in mediating both social experiences and environmental exposures, is sparse. We studied the relationship between pigmentation and ancestry in five populations of mixed ancestry with a wide range of pigmentation and ancestral proportions (African Americans from Washington, DC; African Caribbeans living in England; Puerto Ricans from New York; Mexicans from Guerrero; and Hispanics from San Luis Valley). The strength of the relationship between skin color and ancestry was quite variable, with the correlations ranging in intensity from moderately strong (Puerto Rico, rho = 0.633) to weak (Mexico, rho = 0.212). These results demonstrate the utility of ancestry-informative genetic markers and admixture methods and emphasize the need to be cautious when using pigmentation as a proxy of ancestry or when extrapolating the results from one admixed population to another.

http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v36...ll/ng1440.html

[FREE]

[Darwinsbulldog]

Giosan, L., M. J. L. Coolen, et al. (2012). "Early Anthropogenic Transformation of the Danube-Black Sea System." Sci. Rep. 2.

Over the last century humans have altered the export of fluvial materials leading to significant changes in morphology, chemistry, and biology of the coastal ocean. Here we present sedimentary, paleoenvironmental and paleogenetic evidence to show that the Black Sea, a nearly enclosed marine basin, was affected by land use long before the changes of the Industrial Era. Although watershed hydroclimate was spatially and temporally variable over the last ~3000 years, surface salinity dropped systematically in the Black Sea. Sediment loads delivered by Danube River, the main tributary of the Black Sea, significantly increased as land use intensified in the last two millennia, which led to a rapid expansion of its delta. Lastly, proliferation of diatoms and dinoflagellates over the last five to six centuries, when intensive deforestation occurred in Eastern Europe, points to an anthropogenic pulse of river-borne nutrients that radically transformed the food web structure in the Black Sea.

http://www.nature.com/srep/2012/1208...srep00582.html

OPEN

[Sieveboy]

Cool, thanks DB!

[Strato]

That's interesting. Human impact. Jared Diamond's "Collapse" is an engaging read, as is his prior "Guns, Germs and Steel," a history of civilization and migrations over the last 13000 years.