A team of researchers from the University of Oxford’s Big Data Institute has made a groundbreaking discovery in the field of genetics, creating a comprehensive global map of human genealogy. The study, published recently, uses genetic analysis and fossil evidence to pinpoint the origins of human evolution.
According to the researchers, the starting point for human evolution is believed to be Northeast African country. Over the past two decades, genetic research has seen significant advancements, allowing scientists to collect data from hundreds of thousands of individuals worldwide.
The new method developed by the team promises to overcome challenges in integrating genome sequences and processing enormous datasets. The approach can seamlessly integrate data from multiple sources and scale to accommodate millions of genome sequences.
Researchers Dr. Yan Wong and Dr. Anthony Wilder Wohns have described their findings, stating that they have created an immense family tree – a genealogy for all of humanity – that models historical processes underlying genetic diversity observable in modern humans.
The study used a collection of trees referred to as “tree sequences” or “ancestral recombination graphs,” tracing genetic segments back through time to the ancestors where genetic variation initially arose. The researchers reconstructed the genomes of their ancestors to construct an extensive network of relationships, enabling them to estimate the time and place of existence of these ancestors.
The study’s findings suggest that the very earliest ancestors lived up to 1 million years ago – much older than current estimates for the age of Homo sapiens. This suggests that bits of our genome have been inherited from individuals who we wouldn’t recognize as modern humans.
Employing algorithms, the researchers predicted the presence of common ancestors in the evolutionary trees necessary to elucidate patterns of genetic variation. The resultant network encompassed nearly 27 million ancestors and effectively recapitulated pivotal events in human evolutionary history.
The research team intends to enhance their genealogical map by continually integrating genetic data as it becomes available. The efficiency with which tree sequences store data implies that the dataset could effortlessly accommodate millions more genomes.
This study has significant implications for medical genetics, allowing researchers to discriminate between genuine associations between genetic regions and diseases from spurious connections arising from our shared ancestral history.
Source: https://www.thebrighterside.news/post/every-human-being-originated-from-this-one-african-country