Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Neanderthal DNA secrets

Neanderthal DNA secrets unlocked

It's cool that long lost cousins the Neanderthals are back in the news. There have been a number of great scientific papers and articles in the MSM. The big question these days seems to be if we crossbred with them or not. When did our lines diverge? Are they alive today through our genes?

"A genetic breakthrough could help clear up some long-standing mysteries surrounding our closest evolutionary relatives: the Neanderthals... Studying the Neanderthal genome will shed light on the genetic changes that made our species what it is, after the evolutionary lineage of Neanderthals and modern humans diverged from one another...It could also reveal what colour hair, eyes and skin Neanderthals had, whether they were capable of modern speech, shed light on aspects of their brain function and determine whether they contributed to the modern human gene pool."

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