Why I'ma be a geneticist!
For those of you that cannot understand my pursuit of such a strange bunch of fields as genetics and (paleo) anthropology...I give you this example.
Geneticist Spencer Wells...the guy who started National Geographic's GenoGraphic project (tracing mankind's genetic heritage using Y-chromosomes for the dudes and Mitochondrial DNA for the chicks)...has been on this genetic heritage kick since 1998.
Here is one pretty kickass example of how awesome that project is.
For a little bit of background:
Every male receives from his father, and passes to his children his Y-chromosome. And IDENTICAL copy. This is the same for every male, ever. However, every so often there is a slight mutation in this chromosome...which tends to be harmless.
These mutations serve as markers. Now, I'm not in "the know" enough about this just yet to tell you how often these mutations happen, but best I can tell is that they happen in a given number of generations. As such, we can predict accurately (read: tell absolutely) how often and when these mutations will happen, with only a very small (comparatively) degree of error.
See the mutations? Count em.
If I were to have the first appearance of one of these mutations...all of my offspring, and my offspring's offspring (male-specific) would show this characteristic.
Say it's 50 generations that this tick happens.
You know that such and such mutation happened within 50 generations of the last.
Anyway.
So as they got into Asia, of over 2000 DNA samples collected, the majority of them had this tick.
Now. That seems absurd.
They double checked to make sure. They were correct.
So they started checking all over. Siberia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan. They all showed an overwhelming abundance of this tick across the board.
This tick started with ONE MAN. Meaning this ONE MAN's Y-chromosome survived. Meaning his descendants have overwhelmingly had kids and so on.
This man lived approximately 1000 years ago...+/- 200 years.
The concentration of this mutation in the Y-chromosome corresponds perfectly with a major event in world history.
The Mongolian Conquest of Asia.
Sick, huh?
Well...the whole thing is.
This was ONE GUY.
And they had this policy of killing all the men. Wiping out hundreds of thousands of Y-chromosomal lineages in the process. Leaving room for them to introduce their own in the process.
The whole thing was...they had this policy of "the boss gets the pretty ones!"
Meaning that Genghis Khan got the pick of the litter, so to speak.
His harems of hundreds of chicks and all that are no myth.
So, while it's not 100% certain it was Genghis Khan (we wont know until we find his remains...) who is represented in this chromosomal mutation...the overwhelming likelihood is there.
In any event, there are roughly 16+ million descendants of this dude...bearing his chromosomal mutation. So...Genghis Khan may very well be one of the most successful biological ancestors in the history of human kind. The exception being the genetic "Adam" who lived about 60,000 years ago in the African Savannah (sorry young-earth creationists but at this point evolution isn't really in debate anymore...stuff like this sorta more than nudges the balance in favor. I know it's a "theory"...but then again...so is gravity)...
That being said...what I'm getting at is
1. Spencer Wells is THE FRIGGIN' MAN
2. That's why I need genetics in my repertoire.
Geneticist Spencer Wells...the guy who started National Geographic's GenoGraphic project (tracing mankind's genetic heritage using Y-chromosomes for the dudes and Mitochondrial DNA for the chicks)...has been on this genetic heritage kick since 1998.
Here is one pretty kickass example of how awesome that project is.
For a little bit of background:
Every male receives from his father, and passes to his children his Y-chromosome. And IDENTICAL copy. This is the same for every male, ever. However, every so often there is a slight mutation in this chromosome...which tends to be harmless.
These mutations serve as markers. Now, I'm not in "the know" enough about this just yet to tell you how often these mutations happen, but best I can tell is that they happen in a given number of generations. As such, we can predict accurately (read: tell absolutely) how often and when these mutations will happen, with only a very small (comparatively) degree of error.
See the mutations? Count em.
If I were to have the first appearance of one of these mutations...all of my offspring, and my offspring's offspring (male-specific) would show this characteristic.
Say it's 50 generations that this tick happens.
You know that such and such mutation happened within 50 generations of the last.
Anyway.
So as they got into Asia, of over 2000 DNA samples collected, the majority of them had this tick.
Now. That seems absurd.
They double checked to make sure. They were correct.
So they started checking all over. Siberia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan. They all showed an overwhelming abundance of this tick across the board.
This tick started with ONE MAN. Meaning this ONE MAN's Y-chromosome survived. Meaning his descendants have overwhelmingly had kids and so on.
This man lived approximately 1000 years ago...+/- 200 years.
The concentration of this mutation in the Y-chromosome corresponds perfectly with a major event in world history.
The Mongolian Conquest of Asia.
Sick, huh?
Well...the whole thing is.
This was ONE GUY.
And they had this policy of killing all the men. Wiping out hundreds of thousands of Y-chromosomal lineages in the process. Leaving room for them to introduce their own in the process.
The whole thing was...they had this policy of "the boss gets the pretty ones!"
Meaning that Genghis Khan got the pick of the litter, so to speak.
His harems of hundreds of chicks and all that are no myth.
So, while it's not 100% certain it was Genghis Khan (we wont know until we find his remains...) who is represented in this chromosomal mutation...the overwhelming likelihood is there.
In any event, there are roughly 16+ million descendants of this dude...bearing his chromosomal mutation. So...Genghis Khan may very well be one of the most successful biological ancestors in the history of human kind. The exception being the genetic "Adam" who lived about 60,000 years ago in the African Savannah (sorry young-earth creationists but at this point evolution isn't really in debate anymore...stuff like this sorta more than nudges the balance in favor. I know it's a "theory"...but then again...so is gravity)...
That being said...what I'm getting at is
1. Spencer Wells is THE FRIGGIN' MAN
2. That's why I need genetics in my repertoire.