Exciting news just received from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS):
Neandertal Genome Sequenced
"Using pill-sized samples of bone powder from three Neandertal bones, a global team of scientists including Svante Pääbo, Richard E. Green, and Hernán Burbano has sequenced the Neandertal genome.
"Comparing the Neandertal genome with the genomes of five present-day humans, the researchers uncovered a variety of genes that are unique to humans, including a handful that spread rapidly among our species after humans and Neandertals split from a common ancestor. These significant findings may, in fact, hold the key to understanding our human identity.
Available now online, with public access articles, a podcast, and special visual presentation, and in the May 7 print edition of Science, "the research also suggests that modern humans and Neandertals most likely engaged in limited interbreeding, probably as modern humans encountered Neandertals after leaving Africa."
Our print copy of the May 7 issue has not yet been received, so please enjoy the public access materials online.
Speaking of Science: News from the Oberlin College Science Library
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