ancestry

New insights about gene expression

harminka — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 12:07:51 -0600

The amount of proteins produced in cells—a fundamental determinant of biological outcomes collectively known as gene expression—varies in African American individuals depending on their proportion of African or European genetic ancestry.

Did walking on 2 feet begin with shuffle?

harminka — Fri, 30 May 2008 07:39:04 -0500

University Somewhere in the murky past, between four and seven million years ago, a hungry common ancestor of today’s primates, including humans, did something novel. While temporarily standing on its rear feet to reach a piece of fruit, this protohominid spotted another juicy morsel in a nearby shrub and began shuffling toward it instead of dropping on all fours, crawling to the shrub and standing again.

Rewriting Greenland's immigration history

harminka — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:11:25 -0500

Thirty-six-year-old Professor Eske Willerslev, University of Copenhagen, and his team of fossil DNA researchers have done it a couple of times before: rewritten world history. Most recently two months ago when he and his team discovered that the ancestors of the North American Indians were the first people to populate America, and that they came to the country more than 1,000 years earlier than originally assumed.

New research forces U-turn in population migration theory

harminka — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:27:43 -0500

Research led by the University of Leeds has discovered genetic evidence that overturns existing theories about human migration into Island Southeast Asia (covering the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysian Borneo) - taking the timeline back by nearly 10,000 years.

New statistical method reveals surprises about our ancestry

harminka — Fri, 23 May 2008 08:02:04 -0500

A statistical approach to studying genetic variation promises to shed new light on the history of human migration.

Genetic study of Latin Americans sheds light on a troubled history

harminka — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 06:30:01 -0500

A recent molecular analysis of ancestry across Latin America has revealed a marked differentiation between regions and demonstrated a “genetic continuity” between pre-and post Columbian populations.

Genetic ancestral testing cannot deliver on its promise

harminka — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 11:05:19 -0500

For many Americans, the potential to track one's DNA to a specific country, region or tribe with a take-home kit is highly alluring. But while the popularity of genetic ancestry testing is rising - particularly among African Americans - the technology is flawed and could spawn unwelcome societal consequences, according to researchers from several institutions nationwide, including the University of California, Berkeley.

Computer program traces ancestry using anonymous DNA samples

harminka — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 02:18:50 -0500

A group of computer scientists, mathematicians, and biologists from around the world have developed a computer algorithm that can help trace the genetic ancestry of thousands of individuals in minutes, without any prior knowledge of their background. The team’s findings will be published in the September 2007 edition of the journal PLoS Genetics.

Ancestry.com Introduces Largest Online Collection of U.S. Military Records

Armen Hareyan — Thu, 24 May 2007 09:36:31 -0500

Ancestry.com Is Featuring More Than 90 Million Names of America's Military Heroes and U.S. Military Records Helping People To Find Ancestry.

The emerging fate of the Neandertals

harminka — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 06:10:52 -0500

For nearly a century, anthropologists have been debating the relationship of Neandertals to modern humans. Central to the debate is whether Neandertals contributed directly or indirectly to the ancestry of the early modern humans that succeeded them.

Could USA presidential DNA trail reveal Middle-Eastern origins?

harminka — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 11:30:13 -0500

DNA testing carried out by University of Leicester geneticists and funded by The Wellcome Trust has thrown new light on the ancestry of one of the USA's most revered figures, the third President, Thomas Jefferson.

Ancient ape ruled out of man's ancestral line

harminka — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 11:32:27 -0600