Gene Ancestry

[lumsdale]

Do we all share a common gene pool which can be traced back to Adam and Eve regardless of race and nationality. Also in view of our intelligence are we a different species to Apes.

[jake-the-peg]

Yes they are called mitochondrial-eve and Y cromosomal Adam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_Eve
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-chromosomal_Ada m
She is believed to have lived 140,000 years ago and he's believed to have lived 60,000 years ago

These are the Most Recent Common Ancestors for humans by analysis of our DNA - rather than all that stuff about talking snakes.

And yes we are a different species to apes although exactly what defines a species is not quite as hard and fast as you might think

[chakka35]

Mostly right, Jake, except that human beings are a different species of ape, the other species of great ape being chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla and orang utan.

lumsdale, it's best not to get evolution confused with biblical stories.

[beso]

Actually there are many scientist s who want chimpanzees classified as a type of hominid.

Also note that even though the mitochondrial female line and the Y chromosonal lines can be traced back to a point in time it does not mean that these individuals had all our genes. Many genes have been inherited from now extinct ancestral lines.

Moreover it is facinating that nearly one tenth of our genes actually arise from viral infections that influenced our development far more than anyone realised until very recently. Remarkably, the mammalian placenta actually originated from the genes of a virus.

[kwicky]

If we all descended from Africans this would suppose we all have brown pigment genes in our DNA. Has this been proved I wonder? Would this would point to environmental factors and not by gene linkage?

[beso]

We carry a lot of genes that are not expressed. It has recently realise that the factors which control the gene expression are just as important as the genes themselves.

The diet eaten by a woman when she gestates her daughters affects the gene expression in the eggs of her daughter. Consequently the grandchildren are affected by the environment of their grandmother.

We have 98 percent the same genes as a chimpanzee. The main difference is in which ones are expressed.

The genetic evidence shows that all Europeans are decended from about 40 people. We have all the hallmarks of a population that came back from the edge of extinction resulting in a limited gene pool.