Who We Are and How We Got Here - David Reich

Sub-title: Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past

My Advanced Genetic Genealogy study group recommended this one when we were discussing books related to mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA).  It took me a while to get through.  The first two-thirds was a lot of science of whole genome sequencing (WGS) of DNA from ancient remains and covered how Europe, India, America and Asia were populated and how they tied back to Africa.  It provides a significant update of studies of ancient DNA.

The last part of the book covered how genomic studies reveal inequality, race, identity and concludes with a discussion of the future of ancient DNA. The author described how statistical genetics are applied to determine population origination and migration.  I enjoyed reading it and look forward to future developments in the field.

Quotes and Notes:

[explanation of DNA segments] "Females create an average of about 45 new splices when producing eggs while males create about 26 new splices when producing sperm, for a total of about 71 onew splices per generation."

[population bottlenecks] "European ancestry...Ashkenazi Jews, Finns, Hutterites, Amish, French Canadians of the Saguenay-Lac-St.-Jean region and others--have been the subject of endless and productive study by medical researchers."

"...around one-third of Indian jati [caste system] groups descend from bottlenecks as strong or stronger than those that occurred in Ashkenazi Jews or Finns."

[genomics of inequality] "The archaeologist Marija Gimbutas...argues that the arrival of the Yamnaya [nomadic Steppe culture dating to 3300-2600 BCE] in Europe heralded a shift in the power relationship between the sexes. "

"Between 2011 and 2015...23andMe provided customers with an estimate of their proportion of Neanderthal ancestry. The measurement made by the test was highly inaccurate, however.  Later, 23andMe changed its report....however the company continues to provide its customers with a ranking of the number of Neanderthal-derived mutations they carry.  This ranking, too, does not provide strong evidence that customer have inherited more Neanderthal DNA than their population average."

"At the rate at which ancient DNA data are now being produced...a single laboratory will be producing genome-wide data from thousands of ancient people a year.  This will make it possible to provide a detailed chronicle of how human populations have changed over recent millennia."

Published:  2018  Read: January 2023  Genre: Science