martes, 3 de febrero de 2009

Mitochondrial DNA lets us compare Neanderthals and Humans

news from National Geographics

Thanks to the use of Mitochondrial DNA left on the bones of long dead neanderthals, we have been able to shed much more light on our relationship with our evolutionary brothers.

The new analysis suggests the last common ancestor of modern humans (Homo sapiens) and Neanderthals lived between 800,000 and 520,000 years ago

Our mitochondiral DNA shows us our Maternal Ancestry. All human beings inherit their mitochondrial DNA from their mothers, which means that this genetic information passes from mother to children from our ancient past.

Now that we know that Neanderthals did not mate and become modern humans, the big question is still left unanswered: Why did they disapear?



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