Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.
Science Policy Alerts

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Science 2 March 2001:
Vol. 291. no. 5509, pp. 1742 - 1748
DOI: 10.1126/science.1058948
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Review

Genetic Clues to Dispersal in Human Populations: Retracing the Past from the Present

Rebecca L. Cann

Ongoing debate about proper interpretation of DNA sequence polymorphisms and their ability to reconstruct human population history illustrates a important change in perspective that we have achieved in the past 20 years of population genetics. To what extent does the history of a locus represent the history of a population? Tools originally developed for molecular systematics, where genetic lineages have been separated by speciation events, are routinely applied to the analysis of variation within our species, with conflicting results. Because of automated technologies and linkage analysis, we are poised to harvest a wealth of information about our past, if we are successful in moving beyond a current polarization regarding models of human evolution. Rather than just suggesting that true resolution will only come by considering fossil or archaeological evidence, the realistic and appropriate application of genetic models for analysis of population structure is also necessary. Three examples from different dispersal events are highlighted here.

Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1960 East-West Road, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA. E-mail: rcann{at}hawaii.edu

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The Northeast Indian Passageway: A Barrier or Corridor for Human Migrations?.
R. Cordaux, G. Weiss, N. Saha, and M. Stoneking (2004)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 21, 1525-1533
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Genome wide scan in a Flemish inflammatory bowel disease population: support for the IBD4 locus, population heterogeneity, and epistasis.
S Vermeire, P Rutgeerts, K Van Steen, S Joossens, G Claessens, M Pierik, M Peeters, and R Vlietinck (2004)
Gut 53, 980-986
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Distinguishing human ethnic groups by means of sequences from Helicobacter pylori: Lessons from Ladakh.
T. Wirth, X. Wang, B. Linz, R. P. Novick, J. K. Lum, M. Blaser, G. Morelli, D. Falush, and M. Achtman (2004)
PNAS 101, 4746-4751
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Ethnic India: A Genomic View, With Special Reference to Peopling and Structure.
A. Basu, N. Mukherjee, S. Roy, S. Sengupta, S. Banerjee, M. Chakraborty, B. Dey, M. Roy, B. Roy, N. P. Bhattacharyya, et al. (2003)
Genome Res. 13, 2277-2290
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Statistical Properties of New Neutrality Tests Against Population Growth.
S. E. Ramos-Onsins and J. Rozas (2002)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 19, 2092-2100
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A Second Uniquely Human Mutation Affecting Sialic Acid Biology.
T. Angata, N. M. Varki, and A. Varki (2001)
J. Biol. Chem. 276, 40282-40287
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


ADVERTISEMENT
Click Me!

ADVERTISEMENT
Click Me!

To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)