We like to know more and more about our origins, how we evolved, and how were the people tens of thousands of years ago. And even though we get to know a lot from reading books, from watching documentaries, and from learning in school, there is still the magic done by researches through DNA studying.
In fact, DNA has helped the scientists over the years not only to have medical breakthroughs but also have the history books rewritten.
What we know is that the actual humans of today live and are spread on the entire planet for merely 30,000 years. But we weren’t the very first humans to set foot on Earth.
We still have in our genome genetic material coming from different human ancestors. The technology of the present day entitles us to study as many genetic links as possible. And this is how we can find out that the modern humans have had predecessors with archaic features, which have now gone extinct.
Scientists still study the links with two of the extinct human species. One is the Neanderthal man, or commonly known as the “caveman”. The other one is Denisovan, an archaic human who has recently been discovered.
One of the most amazing parts of the genetic study of humans is finding out that, even though we consider ourselves today as being the masters of the Earth, there were a few millennia prior to the actual development of homo sapiens when other types of humans lived here.
There is a lot of information still encoded in a strand of DNA, which makes it a challenge for the scientists. However, new technology helps them get huge amount of genome sequence data in just a few hours.
What will this show? Well, for example, genetics has shed new light on the links with the Neanderthals. Actually, researchers estimate that people with ancestry of outside Africa have around 2% Neanderthal ancestry, while Africans have around 0.5% Neanderthal genetic material.
This is impressive because, as mentioned before, modern humans rule the planet for the past 30,000 years. So, modern humans and the Neanderthals actually lived for many millennia in the same time on the planet, and genetic flow has been both ways throughout the years.
When it comes to Denisovans, the closest living relatives are people from the Western Pacific Islands, for example, Fiji, New Guinea, or the Solomon Islands. They have between 4% and 6% genetic material from the Denisovan man, which is another impressive finding through the DNA reading.
In fact, researches have found that a Denisovan man and a Neanderthal woman had a female child, almost 90,000 years ago. Scientists could determine this by studying the fossils found.
The 100,000 genomes sequenced so far tell not just the story of the interactions and the ancient links of the modern human, but much more. Some studies suggest that there is a direct link between DNA and the predisposition to certain diseases. For example, there are evidences that the Neanderthal genome contributed to diseases in modern humans. Some examples are the diabetes or the arthritis.
And when it comes to DNA and health, you should know that there are DNA health tests which can be even done at home. You can visit https://bestdnatestingkits.com/ for more information about the best DNA tests. They offer accurate and comprehensive results, and they can be a money saver. But the most important part is that the DNA health testing kit can help you discover unknown information about your genetic material which can lead to health risks.
That is because the genome study also helps unveiling the “flaws” in the body which can lead to serious diseases like cancer. Getting to know if you have a genetical predisposition to a certain disease can improve your health and may even save your life if the case. DNA tests are not meant to diagnose any diseases, though, but rather to evaluate your genes and determine if you may be at risk or a carrier for certain conditions.
Whether used for scientific or historic purposes, for in-home health testing, or to determine one’s ancestry and distant relatives, the DNA tells a lot about the human body, as there is immense information in a single drop. And, as the world will evolve, there will be more and more people curious about finding out all this information – either personal or about the history of mankind.
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