Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #110573 in Books
• Published on: 2007-12-31
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Synopsis
The fossil record locates human origins in Africa, but little is known about the great journey that took Homo sapiens to the far reaches of the Earth. How did we, each of us, end up where we are? Why do we appear in such a wide array of different colours and features? Such questions are even more amazing in light of genetic evidence that we are all related - descended from a common African ancestor who lived only 60,000 years ago. Thanks to new genetic testing methods, we now know that the greatest history book ever written is the one hidden in our DNA. In Deep Ancestry", geneticist and explorer Spencer Wells unravels the slight changes in our DNA over time to tell the ancient story of our shared human journey. He also details the current work of The Genographic Project - the landmark five-year study, already underway at ten research laboratories around the globe, that will assemble the world's largest collection of DNA samples to map how humankind populated the planet.He describes how, over the next five years, the Project will use sophisticated computer analysis of DNA contributed by hundreds of thousands of people - including indigenous populations and the general public - to reveal man's migratory history and to better understand the connections and differences that make up the human race.

The narrative works backward, starting from today and gradually working its way to humankind's common ancestors.From the beginning, the book taps into a reader's interest in genealogy, family history, and ethnic identity. Most of us have a decent sense of our family history, but eventually we all hit a brick wall. DNA takes us beyond it, and this is the unifying theme that will lead us from the stories of the present into the realm of deep ancestry. "Deep Ancestry" represents the very latest research on where we came from and relates them to our own personal quest to discover the deep ancestry behind our family genealogies and touch the depths of our common origins.

Customer Reviews

A great read
This book is perfect for anyone interested in genetics and the origin of humans. It explains all terminolgy simply then expands upon it thus even if you have little or no knowledge of genetics or biology you can read and enjoy it.

The book while concentrating on the scientific information gathered by the project also explores the personnal discoveries individuals have made by entering the project and the subsequent DNA analysis, making it far more interesting a text than ones which consist of only science.

The author's enthusiasm for the project leaps off the page. I read this book in 24 hours and absolutely couldn't put it down. Would highly recommend to anyone.

Happiness is knowing your haplotype
The human diaspora from Africa that populated the world has been the subject of several recent studies. At first, these books were bulwarks against the tide of "Multi-regionalism" - the idea that an early version of our ancestral species evolved into Homo sapiens at different times and places. Genetic research, including that of the author, has shown that we're all descended from a small African population. Placing our origins on one continent simplifies the task of analysis of tracking our movements. In this book, Wells explains how the examination works and what it reveals of our ancestry.

The tool is "markers" on the genome. For females it was the DNA in mitochondria, the cell's "powerhouse". For males, it is changes on the Y chromosome, that molecular structure triggering a shift from the default embryo condition. The author demonstrates how these indicators are detected and how they allow us to track our ancestry back in time. The markers designate genetic "borders" between groups of people who share a common ancestor in the deep past. The groups are called "haplotypes" - for which Wells, at least in the case of Europe, uses the term "clan". There are seven of these clans - designated by letter labels such as "R", "J" or "N" - descended from male originators. The approach is reminiscent of Bryan Sykes "Seven Daughters of Eve" [2001], except Wells follows the male lineage where Sykes used mitochondrial DNA to source female origins. Both authors focus on the European records as being more complete and readily available. Wells also finds but five female lines as opposed to Sykes' seven.

Wells discusses how genetic "clocks" can postulate a rate of mutation over a long span of time to roughly determine the age of the haplogroup. Much of this assessment is sustained by archaeological record. The procedures pinpoint his own grandmother's ancestry, which is ostensibly Danish, to origins in the Middle East, some ten thousand years ago at the beginning of the adoption of agriculture. The shift to the Middle East leads Wells to examine people living today with roots in far corners of the world. One notable example is "Phil", whose Native American background becomes the start of a study of Siberian people. There have been many disputes about the origins of the Western Hemisphere's human settlers. Wells travelled to the Asian North to recover genetic data. The information clearly defines the link between Indian populations here and their ancestry in Eastern Asia.

Wells puts some effort into explaining how DNA works, what counts as a "mutation" and how these changes can be tracked down the generations. With enough samples from living populations in historically stable circumstances, he can provide maps of the distribution of the haplogroups and frequency of the haplotype in a given area. Ireland, for example, is populated almost exclusively by a single haplotype. He explains that The Genographic Project he heads is keen to collect more data, both to refine the European and Native American data, but to enlarge the information from other parts of the world. Clearly, this is a book "in progress", but stands firmly as a good basis for understanding the foundations of such research and its enlargement of knowledge of humanity. Although he states this book is "less technical" than his "The Journey of Man", there is sufficient information on how the data collection and analysis is undertaken to make the book readable and interesting to everybody. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]