Bantu https://scienceblogs.com/ en The Bushmen & the Bantu https://scienceblogs.com/gnxp/2010/02/17/the-bushmen-the-bantu <span>The Bushmen &amp; the Bantu</span> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p>There's a new paper out in <i>Nature</i> which details the genomes of several Bushmen, and how they relate to other humans, and one particular Bantu speaking individual, archbishop Desmond Tutu. It's open access, <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v463/n7283/full/nature08795.html">Complete Khoisan and Bantu genomes from southern Africa</a>. I haven't read the whole thing, but it is probably best to check out <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2010/02/sequencing_the_bishop_-_scientists_present_full_genomes_of_a.php">Ed Yong's very thorough review</a> first. Here's an interesting point Ed brings up:</p> <blockquote><p>Most surprising of all, many of their unique SNPs are actually fairly recent developments. <b>The Bushmen are one of the oldest human groups on the planet and you might expect their genes to reflect humanity's most ancestral state.</b> But not the SNPs - Schuster found that only 6% of !Gubi's newfound SNPs matched the equivalent sequences in the chimpanzee genome; by comparison, the same positions in the human reference genome are an 87% match for the chimp one. They can't be ancestral sequences. They must have turned up after the Bushmen dynasty diverged from other human populations, and they provide hints about the history of this most ancient of human lineages.</p></blockquote> <p>The paper itself uses the phrase "the oldest known lineage of modern human." It's pretty ubiquitous as a description for the Bushmen and related peoples. But as you probably know, I don't think it's that helpful, though the usage of the term "lineage" makes the topology of the phylogenetic tree clear at least. Perhaps more evidence of derived alleles in "ancient populations" will shift the definitional ground a bit....</p> <p><b>Citation:</b> Schuster et al., Complete Khoisan and Bantu genomes from southern Africa, doi:10.1038/nature08795</p> </div> <span><a title="View user profile." href="/author/razib" lang="" about="/author/razib" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">razib</a></span> <span>Wed, 02/17/2010 - 07:13</span> <div class="field field--name-field-blog-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Tags</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/genetics" hreflang="en">genetics</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/bantu" hreflang="en">Bantu</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/bushmen" hreflang="en">Bushmen</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/ed-yong" hreflang="en">Ed Yong</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/south-africa-0" hreflang="en">south africa</a></div> </div> </div> <section> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2169106" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1266415904"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>So "most divergent lineage" would be a more accurate way to phrase it?</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2169106&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="1rEAOS5q2MQ7ZvMO4zOw3p6hjOS1mMshYtJ7H7D836s"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a rel="nofollow" href="http://3lbmonkeybrain.blogspot.com/" lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Mike Keesey (not verified)</a> on 17 Feb 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/27415/feed#comment-2169106">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2169107" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1266422425"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>(I fixed some typos etc.)</p> <p>Quality press knew how to find the relevant angle to that story.</p> <p>Associated Press, <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iTaY6oZz8pr5kA8A9KrtqqJHkGOgD9DU4GM00">Archbishop Tutu's DNA helps show African diversity</a>:</p> <blockquote><p>"We are all very, very similar to one another," Schuster said. Gibbs said the DNA differences discovered in the African subjects can't be used to support racist arguments. He noted that DNA diversity within a continent is greater than the differences between continents. The study found, in fact, that Bushmen are as different from a previously studied Yoruba man in Nigeria as a European man is.</p></blockquote> <p>Reuters, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/assets/print?aid=USTRE61G40R20100217">African gene trawl may provide secrets to long life</a>:</p> <blockquote><p>"On average we found as many genetic differences between two Bushmen than between a European and an Asian," said Dr. Vanessa Hayes of the University of New South Wales in Australia, who worked on the study reported in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature. "This research now provides us with the tools to read the story of human evolution and specifically the story of disease evolution."Geneticists have long known that, on the level of DNA, there is no such thing as race.</p></blockquote> <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurter_Allgemeine_Zeitung">FAZ</a> (a German broadsheet), <a href="http://www.faz.net/s/Rub268AB64801534CF288DF93BB89F2D797/Doc~E8C3D680C159C4706B0BE62E4F72B6DD5~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html">A Blessing for the Genome</a> (doesn't make much more sense in the original German):</p> <blockquote><p>As we now know, two Bushmen from the Kalahari Desert are more different from each other genetically than a European from an Asian. In other words: ethnic groups and races are smoke and mirrors by the standards of genetic research. Could there be a more wonderful reassurance in the fight against apartheid, that powder keg?</p></blockquote> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2169107&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="k1uqYzZnDqz-VQ7ut07VjlkC9PsBt_TSFgh9jfRX76g"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a rel="nofollow" href="http://bluetenlese.wordpress.com" lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">M. Möhling (not verified)</a> on 17 Feb 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/27415/feed#comment-2169107">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2169108" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1266438669"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>"Oldest human group" makes little sense. They are just as old as any other human group - the same amount of time has passed since all human groups last shared a common ancestor with each other, with chimps, or with any other species. </p> <p>"Most divergent lineage" implies that they have evolved (diverged) more than other human lineages. No evidence of that. </p> <p>Not crazy about "oldest known lineage" because again it indicates that they are somehow older, although use of the word lineage is a little closer. Really, the correct phrase would be "earliest diverging lineage." </p> <p>I suppose that this looks like very nitpicky use of jargon to many non-phylogeneticists, but these incorrect descriptions of the Bushman lineage feeds directly into this all-too-commonplace expectation that their genes are going to reflect "humanity's most ancestral state," that they are somehow more primitive, etc. etc. The phylogeny says nothing of the sort.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2169108&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="EPLLMbOepKuKYGHZeu9PJ53bzzwQDDtbbKL_Ux4FN_c"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Anonymous (not verified)</span> on 17 Feb 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/27415/feed#comment-2169108">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2169109" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1266441246"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Three of the four Bushmen are from the same group, speakers of the Northern Bush<br /> language. The fourth is identified as a "Tuu" speaker, apparently from Gobabis. All the Bushmen I have ever met around Gobabis are also Northern Bush. Some of them identify as "!xu" (low tone), the origin I suppose of the name "!Kung", and my bet is the "Tuu" is just "!xu".</p> <p>They ought to have gotten some folks from some of the other Bushman groups, whose languages have no apparent relationship at all to !Kung (or whatever we call them this year) save for the presence of clicks.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2169109&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="x1jqG05iT5AJhDN-ksUw5sYJjq3SKOwr67nOsWv4-ac"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Henry Harpending (not verified)</span> on 17 Feb 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/27415/feed#comment-2169109">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2169110" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1266468924"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>@Anon - No, not nitpicky at all. I found your explanation very helpful. Don't stop.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2169110&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="NK0z1d0gG9LLKa0rNB0zxvMBcFnesN8oZhQ9AsDBUXA"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Sandgroper (not verified)</span> on 17 Feb 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/27415/feed#comment-2169110">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> </section> <ul class="links inline list-inline"><li class="comment-forbidden"><a href="/user/login?destination=/gnxp/2010/02/17/the-bushmen-the-bantu%23comment-form">Log in</a> to post comments</li></ul> Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:13:35 +0000 razib 101240 at https://scienceblogs.com Africa's genetic diversity revealed by full genomes of a Bushman and a Tutu https://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2010/02/17/sequencing-the-bishop-scientists-present-full-genomes-of-a <span>Africa&#039;s genetic diversity revealed by full genomes of a Bushman and a Tutu</span> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p class="center"><img src="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/wp-content/blogs.dir/474/files/2012/04/i-b43ab7ad0fa627fbfcf886a8338ea3e5-Bushmen.jpg" alt="i-b43ab7ad0fa627fbfcf886a8338ea3e5-Bushmen.jpg" /> </p> <p><img src="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/wp-content/blogs.dir/474/files/2012/04/i-ec1318bdbd7e9ab3c62b38fd2f9f70cf-!Gubi.jpg" alt="i-ec1318bdbd7e9ab3c62b38fd2f9f70cf-!Gubi.jpg" />Meet !Gubi, the tribal elder of a group of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushmen">Bushmen</a> (or Khoisan), one of the oldest known human lineages. He lives the life of a hunter-gatherer in the Namibian part of the Kalahari Desert. But he also has a strange connection to James Watson, the <strike>British</strike> American scientist who helped to discover the structure of DNA. For a start, they're both around 80 years old. But more importantly, they are two of just 11 humans to have their entire genomes sequenced. </p> <p>Along with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond_Tutu">Archbishop Desmond Tutu</a>, !Gubi is one of two southern Africans, whose full genomes have been sequenced by <a href="http://www.cidd.psu.edu/people/scs19">Stephan Schuster</a> and an international team of scientists . Schuster's team also analysed the genes of three other Bushmen - G/aq'o, D#kgao and !AÄ±Ë (see footnote for pronunciation guide) - focusing on the parts of their genome that codes for proteins. Like, !Gubi, these men are tribal elders and all are around 80 years old. Despite the fact that the four Bushmen come from neighbouring parts of the Kalahari, their genetic diversity is astounding. Pick any two and peer into their genomes and you'd see more variety than you would between a European and an Asian.<span>  </span> </p> <p><span></span>This diversity reveals just how important it is to include African people in genome sequencing projects. Until now, the nine complete human genomes have included just one African - a Yoruban man from Nigeria. The rest have hailed from Europe, America, China, Korea and, most recently, <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2010/02/meet_inuk_-_full_genome_of_ancient_human_tells_us_about_his.php">Greenland circa 4,000 years ago</a>. This is a major oversight. Africa is the birthplace of humanity and its <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1172257">people</a> are <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8027269.stm">the most genetically diverse on the planet</a>. To understand human genetics without understanding Africa is like trying to learn a language by only looking at words starting with z. </p> <p>The Bushmen certainly provide a glimpse into this diversity. Desmond Tutu was also selected because his ancestry covers the two largest of southern Africa's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bantu_peoples">Bantu</a> groups - the Tswama and the Nguni - making him an excellent representative for many southern Africans. Vanessa Hayes, who worked on the study, says, "This work is very expensive so we wanted to maximise the amount of diversity we could get in one individual." The team had other reasons for sequencing the bishop."He's a voice for southern Africans and for his people. He's a chairman of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Elders">Global Elders</a>. He provides a genome with a lot of medical history behind it, having survived prostate cancer, polio and Tb, diseases that affect many southern Africans." But most importantly, Hayes says, "He wanted to participate. He himself wanted to study medicine so this for him was a personal endeavour." </p> <p>The researchers hope that their new data will allow medical research to become more inclusive. <a href="http://www.ccia.org.au/?pagecall=content&amp;ContentID=38544">Vanessa Hayes</a>, who led the study, says that she found HIV research in South Africa to be very difficult because most genetic databases are severely Eurocentric, which rules out a lot of Africans from medical research. Without this knowledge, for example, we have no way of knowing if a drug that was developed and tested in Western patients will have the same benefits and risks in African ones. <span></span> </p> <!--more--><p class="center"><img src="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/wp-content/blogs.dir/474/files/2012/04/i-19963e956e8ea8edd0d0444f08532daa-African_genomes.jpg" alt="i-19963e956e8ea8edd0d0444f08532daa-African_genomes.jpg" /> </p> <p>Schuster and Hayes compared the two new African genomes to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Genome_Project">the reference version</a> (a composite of several anonymous people) and looked for "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-nucleotide_polymorphism">single nucleotide polymorphisms</a>" - places that differed by a single DNA letter. He found these "SNPs" in their hundreds of thousands. Both !Gubi and Tutu have around a million unique SNPs that they don't share with each other or any of the other fully sequenced humans. Likewise, the proteins of the five Africans had over 27,000 amino acids that differed from the reference sequence, around half of which are unique to them. </p> <p>Some of these differences are easily explained by the Bushmen's lifestyle, reflecting adaptations to hunting and gathering in a hot, dry climate. Being dark-skinned hunter-gatherers, all of them lack genetic variant that give Europeans light-coloured skin and allow them to cope with eating dairy products. </p> <p>All of the Bushmen had a version of the vitamin D receptor that is associated with denser bones and three of them have a variant linked to better sprinting performance. Some of the SNPs grant the carrier the ability to taste bitter plant chemicals, and hunter-gatherers would certainly find it useful to avoid toxic plants. One of !Gubi's variants could allow him to break down foreign substances or resist parasites. Another might make his kidneys better at reaborsbing vital chloride ions and reduce the loss of salt and water, an important skill when you live in the scorching desert. </p> <p>Other differences are perhaps more surprising - the five Africans all lack a genetic variant that is specific to Africa and that grants resistance against malaria. It's possible that the Bushmen may not need such resistance. But that could well change as their populations dwindle and they become forced into agricultural lifestyles, which carry higher risks of disease. Again, these newfound genetic markers could allow scientists to watch how they adapt to such challenges at a genetic level. <span style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: &quot;AdvP7627&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;; color: rgb(41, 37, 38);"></span> </p> <p>Most surprising of all, many of their unique SNPs are actually fairly recent developments. The Bushmen are one of the oldest human groups on the planet and you might expect their genes to reflect humanity's most ancestral state. But not the SNPs - Schuster found that only 6% of !Gubi's newfound SNPs matched the equivalent sequences in the chimpanzee genome; by comparison, the same positions in the human reference genome are an 87% match for the chimp one. They can't be ancestral sequences. They must have turned up after the Bushmen dynasty diverged from other human populations, and they provide hints about the history of this most ancient of human lineages.<br /> </p> <p>The south African genomes will also make geneticists re-evaluate what they know about how our genes affect our health and risk of disease. Our current knowledge in this area is incredibly biased towards Western societies and the results of studies in such populations don't always translate to other continents. For example, one of the Bushmen had a SNP that is reputedly linked to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolman_disease">Wolman's syndrome</a>, a disease that prevents people from storing fat properly and kills at a young age. Try telling that to the eighty-something gentleman! Hayes says, "!Gubi is a very fit and healthy man and much better skipper on a skipping rope than I am </p> <p><strong>Reference: </strong><span class="Z3988" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&amp;rft.jtitle=Nature&amp;rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1038%2Fnature08795&amp;rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fresearchblogging.org&amp;rft.atitle=Complete+Khoisan+and+Bantu+genomes+from+southern+Africa&amp;rft.issn=0028-0836&amp;rft.date=2010&amp;rft.volume=463&amp;rft.issue=7283&amp;rft.spage=943&amp;rft.epage=947&amp;rft.artnum=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Fdoifinder%2F10.1038%2Fnature08795&amp;rft.au=Schuster%2C+S.&amp;rft.au=Miller%2C+W.&amp;rft.au=Ratan%2C+A.&amp;rft.au=Tomsho%2C+L.&amp;rft.au=Giardine%2C+B.&amp;rft.au=Kasson%2C+L.&amp;rft.au=Harris%2C+R.&amp;rft.au=Petersen%2C+D.&amp;rft.au=Zhao%2C+F.&amp;rft.au=Qi%2C+J.&amp;rft.au=Alkan%2C+C.&amp;rft.au=Kidd%2C+J.&amp;rft.au=Sun%2C+Y.&amp;rft.au=Drautz%2C+D.&amp;rft.au=Bouffard%2C+P.&amp;rft.au=Muzny%2C+D.&amp;rft.au=Reid%2C+J.&amp;rft.au=Nazareth%2C+L.&amp;rft.au=Wang%2C+Q.&amp;rft.au=Burhans%2C+R.&amp;rft.au=Riemer%2C+C.&amp;rft.au=Wittekindt%2C+N.&amp;rft.au=Moorjani%2C+P.&amp;rft.au=Tindall%2C+E.&amp;rft.au=Danko%2C+C.&amp;rft.au=Teo%2C+W.&amp;rft.au=Buboltz%2C+A.&amp;rft.au=Zhang%2C+Z.&amp;rft.au=Ma%2C+Q.&amp;rft.au=Oosthuysen%2C+A.&amp;rft.au=Steenkamp%2C+A.&amp;rft.au=Oostuisen%2C+H.&amp;rft.au=Venter%2C+P.&amp;rft.au=Gajewski%2C+J.&amp;rft.au=Zhang%2C+Y.&amp;rft.au=Pugh%2C+B.&amp;rft.au=Makova%2C+K.&amp;rft.au=Nekrutenko%2C+A.&amp;rft.au=Mardis%2C+E.&amp;rft.au=Patterson%2C+N.&amp;rft.au=Pringle%2C+T.&amp;rft.au=Chiaromonte%2C+F.&amp;rft.au=Mullikin%2C+J.&amp;rft.au=Eichler%2C+E.&amp;rft.au=Hardison%2C+R.&amp;rft.au=Gibbs%2C+R.&amp;rft.au=Harkins%2C+T.&amp;rft.au=Hayes%2C+V.&amp;rfe_dat=bpr3.included=1;bpr3.tags=">Schuster, S., Miller, W., Ratan, A., Tomsho, L., Giardine, B., Kasson, L., Harris, R., Petersen, D., Zhao, F., Qi, J., Alkan, C., Kidd, J., Sun, Y., Drautz, D., Bouffard, P., Muzny, D., Reid, J., Nazareth, L., Wang, Q., Burhans, R., Riemer, C., Wittekindt, N., Moorjani, P., Tindall, E., Danko, C., Teo, W., Buboltz, A., Zhang, Z., Ma, Q., Oosthuysen, A., Steenkamp, A., Oostuisen, H., Venter, P., Gajewski, J., Zhang, Y., Pugh, B., Makova, K., Nekrutenko, A., Mardis, E., Patterson, N., Pringle, T., Chiaromonte, F., Mullikin, J., Eichler, E., Hardison, R., Gibbs, R., Harkins, T., &amp; Hayes, V. (2010). Complete Khoisan and Bantu genomes from southern Africa <span style="font-style: italic;">Nature, 463</span> (7283), 943-947 DOI: <a rev="review" href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature08795">10.1038/nature08795</a></span> </p> <p><strong>A note on names: </strong>The <strike>Bushman language</strike> Bushmen languages includes a variety of clicks, which explains the strange characters in their names. The # is an alveolar click, made by pulling the tip of the tongue down sharply from the roof of the mouth to make the sound of a popping cork. The ! is a palatal click, which is a softer version of the alveolar one and made with a flat tongue. The / is a dental click, which is made by sucking air through the front teeth and sounds like an English tsk! </p> <p><strong>Another note on names: </strong>I'm aware that there's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushmen#Naming">controversy over the use of the term "Bushmen"</a> in some circles. I'm using it because it's by far the most commonly used term in the paper, which also mentions San or Khoisan. Note the captial B to denote an actual group of people rather than a colloquial descriptor.<br /> </p> <p><strong>More genomics and anthropology: </strong> </p> <ul> <li><a href="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2010/02/meet_inuk_-_full_genome_of_ancient_human_tells_us_about_his.php">Meet Inuk - full genome of ancient human tells us about his hair, eyes, skin, teeth, ancestry and earwax</a> </li> <li><a href="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2009/05/prehistoric_pin-up_is_oldest_known_figurative_art.php">Prehistoric carving is oldest known figurative art</a> </li> <li><a href="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2009/03/deformed_skull_of_prehistoric_child_suggests_that_early_huma.php">Deformed skull of prehistoric child suggests that early humans cared for disabled children</a> </li> <li><a href="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2009/01/bacteria_and_languages_reveal_how_people_spread_through_the.php">Bacteria and languages reveal how people spread through the Pacific</a> </li> <li><a href="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/09/aborigines_improve_biodiversity_by_starting_fires.php">Aborigines improve biodiversity by starting fires</a></li> </ul> <p><a href="http://twitter.com/edyong209"><img src="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/wp-content/blogs.dir/474/files/2012/04/i-77217d2c5311c2be408065c3c076b83e-Twitter.jpg" alt="i-77217d2c5311c2be408065c3c076b83e-Twitter.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Not-Exactly-Rocket-Science/209972267204?ref=ts"><img src="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/wp-content/blogs.dir/474/files/2012/04/i-988017b08cce458f49765389f9af0675-Facebook.jpg" alt="i-988017b08cce458f49765389f9af0675-Facebook.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/scienceblogs/Ruxi"><img src="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/wp-content/blogs.dir/474/files/2012/04/i-6f3b46114afd5e1e9660f1f502bf6836-Feed.jpg" alt="i-6f3b46114afd5e1e9660f1f502bf6836-Feed.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Not-Exactly-Rocket-Science-Yong/dp/1409242285"><img src="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/wp-content/blogs.dir/474/files/2012/04/i-deec675bab6f2b978e687ca6294b41a5-Book.jpg" alt="i-deec675bab6f2b978e687ca6294b41a5-Book.jpg" /></a> </p> <p><script type="text/javascript"> <!--//--><![CDATA[// ><!-- tweetmeme_style = 'compact'; //--><!]]> </script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"> <!--//--><![CDATA[// ><!-- //--><!]]> </script></p> </div> <span><a title="View user profile." href="/notrocketscience" lang="" about="/notrocketscience" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">edyong</a></span> <span>Wed, 02/17/2010 - 07:00</span> <div class="field field--name-field-blog-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline"> <div class="field--label">Tags</div> <div class="field--items"> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/anthropology" hreflang="en">Anthropology</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/genetics" hreflang="en">genetics</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/genomics" hreflang="en">genomics</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/human-evolution" hreflang="en">Human Evolution</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/gubi" hreflang="en">!Gubi</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/african" hreflang="en">African</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/archbishop" hreflang="en">Archbishop</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/bantu" hreflang="en">Bantu</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/bushmen" hreflang="en">Bushmen</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/desmond-tutu" hreflang="en">Desmond Tutu</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/genome" hreflang="en">Genome</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/khoisan" hreflang="en">Khoisan</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/snps" hreflang="en">SNPs</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/genetics" hreflang="en">genetics</a></div> <div class="field--item"><a href="/tag/human-evolution" hreflang="en">Human Evolution</a></div> </div> </div> <section> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345413" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1266408769"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Ed what is your take on this statement with respect to the position of at least one science blogger that there is no evidence of genetic determinants for athletic performance (and that the very idea is a thinly-veiled cover for racism):</p> <p>"All of the Bushmen had a version of the vitamin D receptor that is associated with denser bones and three of them have a variant linked to better sprinting performance."</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345413&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="bOtK7ZI-TJ9E0WzuEeNsh5rTpictqjHFK11uCvXs3G8"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">JohnV (not verified)</span> on 17 Feb 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/27415/feed#comment-2345413">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345414" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1266409381"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>I'd say that some of these SNP associations aren't exactly conclusive and this study, if anything, confirms that. The sprinting thing was mentioned in the paper, which is why I mention it here. Worth noting that the authors themselves cite the uncertainty of some of these associations - will drag<br /> out actual quote when I get to a computer.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345414&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="ETQdQL7wo2WYJ_scDkq6avtgAhrorO7lK3FhWovz1K4"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Ed Yong (not verified)</span> on 17 Feb 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/27415/feed#comment-2345414">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345415" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1266410162"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Great stuff. Re "only 6% of !Gubi's newfound SNPs matched the equivalent sequences in the chimpanzee genome; by comparison, the same positions in the human reference genome are an 87% match for the chimp one. They can't be ancestral sequences."</p> <p>Could the reference genome be ancestral, and this man have a derived sequence?</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345415&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="zwjaSRNqrnMjCxVlXLCjUVIJYrsPLedGOxaTRR5MVz0"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a rel="nofollow" href="http://backseatdriving.blogspot.com/" lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Brian Schmidt (not verified)</a> on 17 Feb 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/27415/feed#comment-2345415">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345416" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1266410895"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><blockquote><p>and you might expect their genes to reflect humanity's most ancestral state. But not the SNPs - Schuster found that only 6% [â¦] matched the equivalent sequences in the chimpanzee genome</p></blockquote> <p>Of course, the present state of the chimpanzee genome isn't the same as the state our last common ancestor had some 6 million years ago. It's not like mutation and drift, or even selection, had stopped for chimps.</p> <blockquote><p>The Bushman language</p></blockquote> <p>It's a large, large language family, easily comparable to Indo-European at the very least.</p> <blockquote><p>Another note on names:</p></blockquote> <p>It being a language family, there's no self-designation for the whole family in any of the languages. So we can't just "call them what they call themselves"â¦</p> <p>"Khoisan" is a term for the language family formed by the Kxoekxoe (Hottentot) and, well, Bushman language families. That name is an artificial composite of "Kxoekxoe" and "San".</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345416&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="QOtWaMlGsid8xfM_DjtKUDxyDtZzd2f9lVGWgjKxXr0"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">David MarjanoviÄ (not verified)</span> on 17 Feb 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/27415/feed#comment-2345416">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345417" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1266410962"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>adaptations to malaria in africa are pretty recent on an evolutionary scale. i think on the order of 5,000 or so. no surprise that hunter-gatherer peoples lack the variants.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345417&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="pm0H0FN1TWKijkmJTat4-C44AUtL42CzJWggMnYZl5I"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a rel="nofollow" href="http://scienceblogs.com/gnxp" lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">razib (not verified)</a> on 17 Feb 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/27415/feed#comment-2345417">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345418" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1266411247"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><blockquote><p>Could the reference genome be ancestral, and this man have a derived sequence?</p></blockquote> <p>Of course, but probably both are derived to varying extents.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345418&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="RXnCVkKawF-ithjtrnmaEMpWTT9a_mV2qiNmZRkX8Vk"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">David MarjanoviÄ (not verified)</span> on 17 Feb 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/27415/feed#comment-2345418">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345419" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1266414258"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Re Khoisan not having the malaria adaptations: malaria is simply not widespread in South Africa, so the relevant selective pressures probably didn't operate too strongly. See: <a href="http://www.sa-venues.com/malaria-risk-areas.htm">http://www.sa-venues.com/malaria-risk-areas.htm</a></p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345419&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="LVaNVjjT06Hv2HqFVhlimdTH0YLlJISiw_jpfJd4ipg"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <a rel="nofollow" href="http://ionian-enchantment.blogspot.com" lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Michael Meadon (not verified)</a> on 17 Feb 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/27415/feed#comment-2345419">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345420" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1266423804"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Not only have chimps obviously evolved somewhat since our divergence with the last common ancestor (although not nearly enough to account for only 6% similarity! Even 87% is a bit low...) but the state of the chimp genome within the databases is a bit miserable. The assembly is simply wrong in some places.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345420&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="_FxNe7Y1zvT1Ip-yjASJrKmOUhmEsd9BoUXa-Tkmj8c"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">JBC (not verified)</span> on 17 Feb 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/27415/feed#comment-2345420">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345421" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1266429239"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>James Watson is British?</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345421&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="tlXRK33K4Dqe4SPBv8uXIEBwcKjNk50rlmKghTeIlQ0"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">zackoz (not verified)</span> on 17 Feb 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/27415/feed#comment-2345421">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345422" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1266429454"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Aw hell. You can tell I wrote this in a rush, can't you? Fixed the "Bushman language" thing and Watson's nationality. Thanks to everyone for the constructive feedback.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345422&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="benF_QQVIEJuk59B5hh3cqEu9RNkmRJUxEZyrvpGF6w"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Ed Yong (not verified)</span> on 17 Feb 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/27415/feed#comment-2345422">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345423" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1266430724"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>What does it mean for a SNP to 'match' since a SNP is a locus at which there is variation. Presumably one allele or the other is ancestral at every SNP.</p> <p>The 'old lineage' stuff doesn't quite seem sensible either. Pick an allele at a locus from me, an allele from the same locus from a Bushman, follow them back to their common ancestor. The length of the two branches, hence the probability of a mutation have happened is exactly the same on each branch. Hence the probability of the ancestral state (or the expected frequency of the ancestral state if we extend the sample of size 2 to larger samples)is exactly the same in both of us. Alan Rogers recently published a nice paper showing this in greater detail.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345423&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="fJdBZurx6jrtBzaP_32hvSKZRdeiNuPbsxX6UJzfgTM"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Henry Harpending (not verified)</span> on 17 Feb 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/27415/feed#comment-2345423">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345424" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1266442121"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Genetic diversity increases where there is low selection pressure. Africa has a mild climate without seasonal food scarcity. It is also true that the founder effect decreases genetic diversity the farther a population migrates from their origins.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345424&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="8xGpjoy4FT6hqYyB3vALLORvN4fV6o9ubRGW4qO_v4M"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Scientist (not verified)</span> on 17 Feb 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/27415/feed#comment-2345424">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345425" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1266442559"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>With regard to African athletic performance, the prevalence of myostatin mutations ranges from ten to twenty percent in Africa, while only 1% in Europe and Asia. As well the slavers culled for heavily muscled slaves because they fetched a better price and were more likely to survive the arduous journey bound and shackled, stacked like cordwood in the hold of a ship.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345425&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="IuwNLAciTpMfUblA5C1lFAUEG6kKTdialmtWwo0MT2M"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">scientist (not verified)</span> on 17 Feb 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/27415/feed#comment-2345425">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345426" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1266507572"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>One interesting implication (not quite enough data for a result, yet) is that this group has managed to avoid inbreeding. </p> <p>It seems pretty common to assume aboriginal groups (especially when they have small populations today) were somehow always isolated. Logically, that should be the exception, not the rule, since inbreeding isn't exactly a good thing for the long term success of a population. Yeah, the exceptions are cool simplified cases we can make more interesting conclusions about, but again, not the rule.<br /> Maybe we still have too many geneticists trained on lab strains.</p> <p>Also, as I mentioned elsewhere, these results seem to be exactly what we should expect for a species which has undergone a recent radiation. We've seen the same sort of thing numerous times in other clades.</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345426&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="cPLPhjMbvKeX3mmLkyR9tiL5adZc0guEEnAkVfN7XvM"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">travc (not verified)</span> on 18 Feb 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/27415/feed#comment-2345426">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345427" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1266509989"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><p>I think that you will find that Archbishop Tutu is of Twsana, not "Twsama" origen.<br /> I also question "scientist's" description of "Africa" having a mild climate. Africa is a very large continent with a huge variety of climatic zones. Even just in Southern Africa you have the mediterranian climate of the southern Cape, the tropical climate of northern Kwazulu-Natal and Mozambique, the velt of the central plateau and the extreme desert of the Namib. It is also subjected to periodic drought conditions that have waxed and waned based on oceanic and climate cycles. I can assure you that the Kalahari where the majority of the San peoples live is in no way a mild climate. Extremely hot with very scarce water and major fluctuations of food availability based on animal migrations and a growing season based on the very seasonal rains. I agree with the authors of the study that the genetic diversity is primarily based on the age and ancestral nature of the populations rather than relaxed selection pressure. Having spent a considerable amount of time out in the Southern African bush including the kalahari I challenge anyone who things that the climate and selection pressure are "mild" to live like the San peoples do for a month...</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345427&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="lpZ_2aQTgxquq-zz-dif4kwcXK_GUgDXvykzjnmS9ek"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">DrYak (not verified)</span> on 18 Feb 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/27415/feed#comment-2345427">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> <article data-comment-user-id="0" id="comment-2345428" class="js-comment comment-wrapper clearfix"> <mark class="hidden" data-comment-timestamp="1266607029"></mark> <div class="well"> <strong></strong> <div class="field field--name-comment-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item"><blockquote><p>It's a large, large language family, easily comparable to Indo-European at the very least.</p></blockquote> <p>If at all. Isn't it more of a convenient cultural/geographical lumping?</p> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="comment.lazy_builders:renderLinks" arguments="0=2345428&amp;1=default&amp;2=en&amp;3=" token="OaarYhJX3uMjcZgmcHulytHQPiEFaZitvUAWSA0Qp_8"></drupal-render-placeholder> </div> <footer> <em>By <span lang="" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">Trond Engen (not verified)</span> on 19 Feb 2010 <a href="https://scienceblogs.com/taxonomy/term/27415/feed#comment-2345428">#permalink</a></em> <article typeof="schema:Person" about="/user/0"> <div class="field field--name-user-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field--item"> <a href="/user/0" hreflang="und"><img src="/files/styles/thumbnail/public/default_images/icon-user.png?itok=yQw_eG_q" width="100" height="100" alt="User Image" typeof="foaf:Image" class="img-responsive" /> </a> </div> </article> </footer> </article> </section> <ul class="links inline list-inline"><li class="comment-forbidden"><a href="/user/login?destination=/notrocketscience/2010/02/17/sequencing-the-bishop-scientists-present-full-genomes-of-a%23comment-form">Log in</a> to post comments</li></ul> Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:00:59 +0000 edyong 120443 at https://scienceblogs.com