Scientists seek the secret of our success from Neanderthal DNA
Submitted by coldrum on Friday, 21 July 2006 Page Views: 1147
DiscoveriesScientists are to decipher the genetic code of our closest relative, the barrel-chested, long-faced Neanderthal, in the hope that it will reveal how modern humans developed the formidable cognitive power to dominate the world. With fragments of DNA from bones found in ancient caves, researchers will piece together the Neanderthal's genome, and compare it with those already sequenced for humans and chimpanzees.Modern humans and Neanderthals split from a common ancestor nearly 500,000 years ago, as primitive humans first harnessed the power of fire. From a foothold north of the Mediterranean, Homo heidelbergensis steadily evolved into the Neanderthals, while in Africa, the same species embarked on a different evolutionary path, one that ultimately gave rise to Homo sapiens.
Remains of Neanderthals dating back as far as 400,000 years ago suggest a reasonably sophisticated species that crafted tools and weapons and buried its dead, but they were no match for Homo sapiens. The last Neanderthals died out nearly 40,000 years ago, as Homo sapiens migrated to, and eventually settled throughout, Europe.
The team of scientists, led by Svante Pääbo at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, will analyse strands of DNA preserved in a leg bone recovered from a cave in Vindija, Croatia, and an upper arm bone from an archaeological site in the Neander valley in Germany.
More: The Guardian
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