How humans spread around the world is still one of the mysteries in the history of mankind. Mitochondrial DNA has been a crucial line of experimental evidence in developing the current understanding of our genetic history. It has shed significant light in determining the population patterns and human migrations around the world. Studies of mitochondrial DNA have provided new insights in the way humans spread around the globe throughout time. Studies have suggested two major routes from East Africa through which humans exited Africa and colonized the globe. An early route through the tropical coast of the Indian Ocean to southeast Asia and Australasia 60-75 thousand years ago (kya) (Macaulay et al, 2005: 1034), and followed by a dispersal via the Levant into Europe and North Africa 40-45 kya (Atkinson et al, 2008: 472), these routes are often referred as “Out of Africa” migration.
Mitochondrial DNA has a lot of characteristics and features which makes its use very essential in determining the spread of humans throughout the world. Human mitochondrial DNA is solely inherited from mothers. A human’s mitochondrial DNA is the same as his mother’s mitochondrial DNA, which is the same as her mother’s mitochondrial DNA. Researchers can estimate a probability distribution of ancestors’ genes and migration paths through time if they are given a set of mitochondrial gene sequences. It is assumed that all mitochondrial DNA types in the human gene pool can ultimately be traced back to a common matrilineal ancestor that lived approximately 200,000 years ago in Africa.(Oven et al, 386) All human mitochondrial DNA can be traced back to a single mitochondrial DNA known as “mitochondrial Eve”, who lived in Africa a long time ago. Mutations are m...
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Paabo’s team discovered an mtDNA sequence from a finger bone they found from around 40,000 years ago, as carbon dating is one of the most commonly used methods of determining a fossil’s age. (Hammer, 70). Also, Neanderthal mtDNA is differs severely from modern human mtDNA. For example, Microcephalin is a gene for brain size during the development of the organism.
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From the ancient bones of the Neanderthals, scientists have been able to extract small amounts of DNA. The DNA comparisons to modern humans show no relationship, implying evolutionary separation (Kunzig, 159). Some anthropologists say the small sections of DNA found are not conclusive evidence, because modern humans show just as much variation in DNA. These people point out that individuals such as the “Portugal Kid” are hybrids of Neanderthals and modern humans, showing there was gene trading. One argument against this is that there is no skull from the ‘Portugal Kid” so it is hard to compare it to Neanderthals. Also, it is known that closely related species can breed and their offspring can be fertile, but they are still separate species (Kunzig, 161).
middle of paper ... ... Scientists are also aware of the fact that mtDNA is only carried by the mother. This means that there may still be evidence of interbreeding out there that is carried from the male.
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The literature does provide evidence for my hypothesis and also provides a clearer picture as to how frequent and to what extent the interbreeding is believed to occur. Examining these articles will introduce the new findin...
...thin your body that convert food into energy and transport DNA throughout the body. Because of this scientists are able to use gene mapping to provide a clear path that can trace the origins of the Haplogroup back all the way to the beginning. Like I stated before only 3 percent of the Indian civilization in North America has this gene. It is a mutation from the four main mtDNA strands “A-D.” which is how scientists trace it all the way back to the beginning of the human gene type. This idea of mtDNA shows a little idea what the Minoans did and where they had gone throughout their empire. But this still does not prove that Minoans built the great city of Atlantis because until they can trace some ones DNA that is a descendant of the Minoan empire. To someone who is a descendant of the lost city of Atlantis they will for sure never know if the city actually existed.
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