Posted on 11/15/2006 2:09:22 PM PST by Pharmboy
An undated photograph shows the inside of the Vindija cave
in Croatia, where a leg bone from a male Neanderthal
was found and and used to sequence DNA by researchers who on
Wednesdauy said it shows that Neanderthals are truly distant
relatives of modern humans who interbred rarely, if at all,
with our own immediate ancestors. (Johannes Krause- Max-
Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology/Handout/Reuters)
Researchers have sequenced DNA from the leg bone of a Neanderthal man who died 38,000 years ago and said on Wednesday it shows the Neanderthals are truly distant relatives of modern humans who interbred rarely, if at all, with our own immediate ancestors.
They estimate that modern humans and Neanderthals split from a common ancestor at least 370,000 years ago, and possibly 500,000 years ago, although we share 99.95 percent of our DNA.
"We see no evidence of mixing 40,000, 30,000 years ago in Europe. We don't exclude it, but see no evidence," Edward Rubin of the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute in Walnut Creek, California, who led one study, told reporters.
This conflicts with some evidence from other researchers, including a team who said earlier this month that humans may have inherited a brain gene from Neanderthals.
The researchers reported their findings jointly in the journals Nature and Science.
Rubin's team used one method to isolate and sequence part of the Neanderthal's DNA, while another team, led by Svante Paabo of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany, used a separate method to sequence a much larger amount.
Paabo was the first scientist to find and sequence Neanderthal DNA, in 1997, and first suggested that Neanderthals did not mix with modern humans.
"I think the sequence data will serve as a DNA time machine that will tell us about biology and aspects that we will never be able to get from their bones and a limited number of associated artifacts," Rubin said.
Neanderthals and modern humans are both descended from Homo erectus, which left Africa and spread around the world about 1.5 million years ago.
LIVING SIDE BY SIDE
Neanderthals lived in Europe and the Middle East until about 30,000 years ago. Cro-Magnon people, the ancestors of modern humans, started a second wave of migration out of Africa about 10,000 years earlier.
One huge question is how closely they interacted. Paabo's and Rubin's genetic analysis both suggest there was little sexual contact, at least according to the genes from this one male found at the back of a cave in Croatia.
Paabo's team sorted through 70 Neanderthal specimens before they found a bone well-preserved enough to provide DNA. They took the tiniest samples they could to preserve the valuable bones.
They know it was a male because the DNA has a Y chromosome. Females have two X chromosomes.
Paabo's team used a gene sequencer made by 454 Life Sciences Corporation, a majority-owned subsidiary of CuraGen Corporation. He said they have refined their methods and hope to have a complete genetic sequence within two years.
They said the Neanderthal sequences are 99.95 percent identical to human DNA sequences. This compares to about a 98 percent similarity between humans and chimpanzees, who split from a common ancestor 6 million to 7 million years ago.
Three-way comparisons among the human, chimpanzee and Neanderthal genomes should shed light on what makes modern humans unique, experts agreed.
Rubin and other experts stressed that while full sequences of the human genome are available, very little is understood about what the code actually means.
"We have the book but we haven't yet read it," Rubin said.
They found, for instance, sequences linked with eye color but cannot read the code to tell what color Neanderthal eyes were.
Nope, doesn't. Appears to be another mtDNA comparison, which doesn't yield relevant info, except to say, oh, maybe we don't have any mtDNA samples showing the same line of descent. This isn't particularly illuminating considering how few of us have our mtDNA sequenced. Also, the sample size in the 1997 study involved fewer than 400 base pairs (out of a presumed 16,000+ base pairs in the living original), and this isn't going to be much better, could even be worse, because this is an older sample.
The Neandertal EnigmaFrayer's own reading of the record reveals a number of overlooked traits that clearly and specifically link the Neandertals to the Cro-Magnons. One such trait is the shape of the opening of the nerve canal in the lower jaw, a spot where dentists often give a pain-blocking injection. In many Neandertal, the upper portion of the opening is covered by a broad bony ridge, a curious feature also carried by a significant number of Cro-Magnons. But none of the alleged 'ancestors of us all' fossils from Africa have it, and it is extremely rare in modern people outside Europe." [pp 126-127]
by James Shreeve
Critchton rehashes the ancient story. Tales of giants and monsters are just too prevalent in literature and art to not have some basis in truth. From Grendel to Goliath to Cyclops to the Giants Jack killed. it's always there, a battle between homo sapien and some big ole nasty flavor of upright critter.
 |
Genetic Genealogy  |
| Send FReepmail if you want on/off GGP list Marty = Paternal Haplogroup O(2?)(M175) Maternal Haplogroup H |
|
| GG LINKS: African Ancestry DNAPrint Genomics FamilyTree DNA mitosearch Nat'l Geographic Genographic Project Oxford Ancestors RelativeGenetics Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation Trace Genetics ybase ysearch |
|
| The List of Ping Lists | |
WTF? Dept. of Energy?
Yeah...I did a double take on that myself. What the DOE has to do with the Genome Project is anybody's guess.
BFLR = bump for later reading
Apparently they had some cash to burn before end of fiscal year when the whole genome project was getting started. Gotta use it or lose it.
Kind of the like the Dept. of Education in the business of feeding people. A way to expand their budget.
This is the first time I've seen a report on Neandertal DNA.
So Hagar is out to slay eagles now?
Closest .gif I could find!
I don't believe that Cro-Magnon man came "out of Africa". Just don't believe it.
It's been debunked practically from the very beginning, but the true believers will never let go it seems.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)
Thanks for the ping. As they test more markers on the Y chromosome, they should be able to establish a DNA profile (haplotype) that can show with a stated level of confidence how many generations back to the most recent common ancestor.
That may be how they calculated this:
They estimate that modern humans and Neanderthals split from a common ancestor at least 370,000 years ago, and possibly 500,000 years ago, although we share 99.95 percent of our DNA.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
