dear professor, i think my husband is a neanderthal. In May 2010, biologists broke the news that our modern human ancestors had sex with their Neanderthal cousins in Europe and Western Asia as they trudged out of Africa to colonise the world. Many of us who live outside Africa today are a living legacy of those ancient couplings. Though modern humans more or less replaced Neanderthals, the encounters left an imprint on our genetic makeup. We carry inside our cells a smidgen of Neanderthal DNA. But there are some people out there who suspect they are a little more Neanderthal than the research suggests. If not themselves, it’s someone close to them who is behaving in a vaguely unhuman way. The revelation came in a spectacular talk this week by Svante Pääbo at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in Washington DC. Prof Pääbo is the head of genetics at the Max Planck Institute for EvolutionaryAnthropology in Leipzig and led the team that created the draft sequence of the Neanderthal genome. The evidence for interbreeding came from comparing the Neanderthal genome with that of modern humans. In the months after the paper was published, Pääbo began to receive letters and emails from people who had read about the work. He decided to keep track of the correspondence, at least until September that year, to see if any trends appeared. He wasn’t disappointed. Some 45 men wrote in to declare themselves fully or partially Neanderthal and several asked if they should provide saliva samples for Pääbo to analyse. Over the same few months, only two women wrote in to declare themselves of Neanderthal stock. Pääbo is a careful scientist and knows very well that there could be several explanations for this male-female divide. “You could say, well, the women were not paying attention [to the research],” he told a room of thousands of captivated neuroscientists. However, the next data point Pääbo posted showed that this was probably not the case. Twelve women had been in touch to declare that their husbands were Neanderthals. Some of them offered their spouses for future study. Only two men wrote in to say the same of their wives. As a lighthearted detour in a deep and broad romp through the genetics of ancient DNA, the contents of Pääbo’s postbag provided some well-timed relief in his talk. But speaking afterwards, the researcher said the correspondence might reflect our stereotyped ideas of our closest extinct relatives. “It says something about how we view Neanderthals,” Pääbo told the Guardian. posted in the guardian
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dear professor, i think my husband is a neanderthal.

In May 2010, biologists broke the news that our modern human ancestors had sex with their Neanderthal cousins in Europe and Western Asia as they trudged out of Africa to colonise the world.

Many of us who live outside Africa today are a living legacy of those ancient couplings. Though modern humans more or less replaced Neanderthals, the encounters left an imprint on our genetic makeup. We carry inside our cells a smidgen of Neanderthal DNA.

But there are some people out there who suspect they are a little more Neanderthal than the research suggests. If not themselves, it’s someone close to them who is behaving in a vaguely unhuman way.

The revelation came in a spectacular talk this week by Svante Pääbo at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in Washington DC. Prof Pääbo is the head of genetics at the Max Planck Institute for EvolutionaryAnthropology in Leipzig and led the team that created the draft sequence of the Neanderthal genome. The evidence for interbreeding came from comparing the Neanderthal genome with that of modern humans.

In the months after the paper was published, Pääbo began to receive letters and emails from people who had read about the work. He decided to keep track of the correspondence, at least until September that year, to see if any trends appeared. He wasn’t disappointed.

Some 45 men wrote in to declare themselves fully or partially Neanderthal and several asked if they should provide saliva samples for Pääbo to analyse. Over the same few months, only two women wrote in to declare themselves of Neanderthal stock.

Pääbo is a careful scientist and knows very well that there could be several explanations for this male-female divide. “You could say, well, the women were not paying attention [to the research],” he told a room of thousands of captivated neuroscientists.

However, the next data point Pääbo posted showed that this was probably not the case. Twelve women had been in touch to declare that their husbands were Neanderthals. Some of them offered their spouses for future study.

Only two men wrote in to say the same of their wives.

As a lighthearted detour in a deep and broad romp through the genetics of ancient DNA, the contents of Pääbo’s postbag provided some well-timed relief in his talk. But speaking afterwards, the researcher said the correspondence might reflect our stereotyped ideas of our closest extinct relatives. “It says something about how we view Neanderthals,” Pääbo told the Guardian.

posted in the guardian

the shaping of modern human immune systems by multiregional admixture with archaic humans. Whole-genome comparisons identified introgression from archaic to modern humans. Our analysis of highly polymorphic HLA class I, vital immune system components subject to strong balancing selection, shows how modern humans acquired the HLA-B*73 allele in west Asia through admixture with archaic humans called Denisovans, a likely sister group to the Neandertals. Virtual genotyping of Denisovan and Neandertal genomes identified archaic HLAhaplotypes carrying functionally distinctive alleles that have introgressed into modern Eurasian and Oceanian populations. These alleles, of which several encode unique or strong ligands for natural killer cell receptors, now represent more than half the HLA alleles of modern Eurasians and also appear to have been later introduced into Africans. Thus, adaptive introgression of archaic alleles has significantly shaped modern human immune systems. research abstract posted in science in a more general language. The HLA genes that the Neanderthals and Denisovans had, had been adapted to life in Europe and Asia for several hundred thousand years, whereas the recent migrants from Africa wouldn’t have had these genes,” said study leader Peter Parham from Stanford University School of Medicine in California. “So getting these genes by mating would have given an advantage to populations that acquired them.” When the team looked at a variant of HLA called HLA-B*73 found in modern humans, they found evidence that it came from cross-breeding with Denisovans. Other scientists, while agreeing that humans and other ancients interbred, are less certain about the evidence of impacts on our immune system. “I’m cautious about the conclusions because the HLA system is so variable in living people,” commented John Hawks, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, US. from article posted in the bbc
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the shaping of modern human immune systems by multiregional admixture with archaic humans.

Whole-genome comparisons identified introgression from archaic to modern humans. Our analysis of highly polymorphic HLA class I, vital immune system components subject to strong balancing selection, shows how modern humans acquired the HLA-B*73 allele in west Asia through admixture with archaic humans called Denisovans, a likely sister group to the Neandertals. Virtual genotyping of Denisovan and Neandertal genomes identified archaic HLAhaplotypes carrying functionally distinctive alleles that have introgressed into modern Eurasian and Oceanian populations. These alleles, of which several encode unique or strong ligands for natural killer cell receptors, now represent more than half the HLA alleles of modern Eurasians and also appear to have been later introduced into Africans. Thus, adaptive introgression of archaic alleles has significantly shaped modern human immune systems.

research abstract posted in science

in a more general language.

The HLA genes that the Neanderthals and Denisovans had, had been adapted to life in Europe and Asia for several hundred thousand years, whereas the recent migrants from Africa wouldn’t have had these genes,” said study leader Peter Parham from Stanford University School of Medicine in California.

“So getting these genes by mating would have given an advantage to populations that acquired them.”

When the team looked at a variant of HLA called HLA-B*73 found in modern humans, they found evidence that it came from cross-breeding with Denisovans.

Other scientists, while agreeing that humans and other ancients interbred, are less certain about the evidence of impacts on our immune system.

“I’m cautious about the conclusions because the HLA system is so variable in living people,” commented John Hawks, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, US.

from article posted in the bbc

DNA study deals blow to theory of european origins. The findings challenge previous research showing that the genetic signature of the farmers displaced that of Europe’s indigenous hunters. The latest research leans towards the idea that most of Europe’s males trace a line of descent to stone-age hunters. The latest study focused on the Y chromosome - a package of DNA which is passed down more or less unchanged from father to son. The Y chromosomes carried by people today can be classified into different types, or lineages, which - to some extent - reflect their geographical origins. More than 100 million European men carry a type called R-M269, so identifying when this genetic group spread out is vital to understanding the peopling of Europe. R-M269 is most common in western Europe, reaching frequencies of 90% or more in Spain, Ireland and Wales. Now, a team including Cristian Capelli and George Busby at Oxford University have explored the question. Their results, based on a sample of more than 4,500 men from Europe and western Asia, showed no geographical trends in the diversity of R-M269. Such trends would be expected if the lineage had expanded from Anatolia with Neolithic farmers. Furthermore, they suggest that some of the markers on the Y chromosome are less reliable than others for estimating the ages of genetic lineages. On these grounds, they argue that current analytical tools are unsuitable for dating the expansion of R-M269. posted in the bbc
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DNA study deals blow to theory of european origins.

The findings challenge previous research showing that the genetic signature of the farmers displaced that of Europe’s indigenous hunters.

The latest research leans towards the idea that most of Europe’s males trace a line of descent to stone-age hunters.

The latest study focused on the Y chromosome - a package of DNA which is passed down more or less unchanged from father to son.

The Y chromosomes carried by people today can be classified into different types, or lineages, which - to some extent - reflect their geographical origins.

More than 100 million European men carry a type called R-M269, so identifying when this genetic group spread out is vital to understanding the peopling of Europe.

R-M269 is most common in western Europe, reaching frequencies of 90% or more in Spain, Ireland and Wales.

Now, a team including Cristian Capelli and George Busby at Oxford University have explored the question.

Their results, based on a sample of more than 4,500 men from Europe and western Asia, showed no geographical trends in the diversity of R-M269. Such trends would be expected if the lineage had expanded from Anatolia with Neolithic farmers.

Furthermore, they suggest that some of the markers on the Y chromosome are less reliable than others for estimating the ages of genetic lineages. On these grounds, they argue that current analytical tools are unsuitable for dating the expansion of R-M269.

posted in the bbc

epigenetic "memory" key to nature versus nurture.

Researchers funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) at the John Innes Centre have made a discovery, published last night (24 July) in Nature, that explains how an organism can create a biological memory of some variable condition, such as quality of nutrition or temperature. The discovery explains the mechanism of this memory - a sort of biological switch - and how it can also be inherited by offspring.

Professor Dean said ”There are quite a few examples that we now know of where the activity of genes can be affected in the long term by environmental factors. And in some cases the environment of an individual can actually affect the biology or physiology of their offspring but there is no change to the genome sequence.”

For example, some studies have shown that in families where there was a severe food shortage in the grandparents’ generation, the children and grandchildren have a greater risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, which could be explained by epigenetic memory. But until now there hasn’t been a clear mechanism to explain how individuals could develop a “memory” of a variable factor, such as nutrition.

Epigenetic memory comes in various guises, but one important form involves histones - the proteins around which DNA is wrapped. Particular chemical modifications can be attached to histones and these modifications can then affect the expression of nearby genes, turning them on or off. These modifications can be inherited by daughter cells, when the cells divide, and if they occur in the cells that form gametes (e.g. sperm in mammals or pollen in plants) then they can also pass on to offspring.

evangelicals question the existence of adam and eve. Several other well known theologians at Christian universities have been forced out; some see a parallel to a previous time when science conflicted with religious doctrine. “The evolution controversy today is, I think, a Galileo moment,” says Karl Giberson, who authored several books trying to reconcile Christianity and evolution, including The Language of Science and Faith, with Francis Collins. Giberson — who taught physics at Eastern Nazarene College until his views became too uncomfortable in Christian academia — says Protestants who question Adam and Eve are akin to Galileo in the 1600s, who defied Catholic Church doctrine by stating that the earth revolved around the sun and not vice versa. Galileo was condemned by the church, and it took more than three centuries for the Vatican to express regret at its error. “When you ignore science, you end up with egg on your face,” Giberson says. “The Catholic Church has had an awful lot of egg on its face for centuries because of Galileo. And Protestants would do very well to look at that and to learn from it.” posted by npr in other news the earth is not the center of the universe.
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evangelicals question the existence of adam and eve.

Several other well known theologians at Christian universities have been forced out; some see a parallel to a previous time when science conflicted with religious doctrine.

“The evolution controversy today is, I think, a Galileo moment,” says Karl Giberson, who authored several books trying to reconcile Christianity and evolution, including The Language of Science and Faith, with Francis Collins.

Giberson — who taught physics at Eastern Nazarene College until his views became too uncomfortable in Christian academia — says Protestants who question Adam and Eve are akin to Galileo in the 1600s, who defied Catholic Church doctrine by stating that the earth revolved around the sun and not vice versa. Galileo was condemned by the church, and it took more than three centuries for the Vatican to express regret at its error.

“When you ignore science, you end up with egg on your face,” Giberson says. “The Catholic Church has had an awful lot of egg on its face for centuries because of Galileo. And Protestants would do very well to look at that and to learn from it.”

posted by npr

in other news the earth is not the center of the universe.

hands off my gender. Where does the story begin? Perhaps in the delivery room, when the doctor hands the newborn baby, still slick with blood and mucus, to the ecstatic parents but isn’t able to say definitively, “It’s a boy” or “It’s a girl.” Or it could start earlier, in the womb, when the cells are dividing like mad to create the many complicated and wondrous parts of a new human being. Perhaps the story really gets going later, when the surgeon slices into the baby’s phallus—considered either a micro-penis or an overlarge clitoris—in the first of many treatments to cosmetically assign a crystal-clear gender. Or maybe the heart of the story is the slow cultivation of shame that comes from the years of secrecy and misinformation that follow infant gender reassignment. By far the happiest place to dive in, for this particular rendition of the story, is when Jim met Alice Dreger a few months ago and told her: “You saved my life.” Jim is a 50-year-old man who was born with a disorder of sex development (DSD), formerly known as intersex, formerly known as pseudo-hermaphrodism. Alice is a bioethics professor and advocate of the basic human rights of DSD patients: the right to grow up without devastating cosmetic surgeries that take away sexual sensation or, in some instances, the ability to experience orgasm; the right to know one’s own medical history; the right to make one’s own medical choices. posted in the utne reader
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hands off my gender.

Where does the story begin? Perhaps in the delivery room, when the doctor hands the newborn baby, still slick with blood and mucus, to the ecstatic parents but isn’t able to say definitively, “It’s a boy” or “It’s a girl.” Or it could start earlier, in the womb, when the cells are dividing like mad to create the many complicated and wondrous parts of a new human being. Perhaps the story really gets going later, when the surgeon slices into the baby’s phallus—considered either a micro-penis or an overlarge clitoris—in the first of many treatments to cosmetically assign a crystal-clear gender. Or maybe the heart of the story is the slow cultivation of shame that comes from the years of secrecy and misinformation that follow infant gender reassignment.

By far the happiest place to dive in, for this particular rendition of the story, is when Jim met Alice Dreger a few months ago and told her: “You saved my life.”

Jim is a 50-year-old man who was born with a disorder of sex development (DSD), formerly known as intersex, formerly known as pseudo-hermaphrodism. Alice is a bioethics professor and advocate of the basic human rights of DSD patients: the right to grow up without devastating cosmetic surgeries that take away sexual sensation or, in some instances, the ability to experience orgasm; the right to know one’s own medical history; the right to make one’s own medical choices.

posted in the utne reader

indian man has hysterectomy after doctors find uterus

An Indian farmer and father of two had a hysterectomy after doctors discovered a “full female reproductive system” in his lower abdomen.

The Indian man, identified as Ryalu, was admitted to a hospital near Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, after complaining of severe stomach pains.

Doctors suspected a normal hernia, but when they carried out an exploratory operation they were shocked to discover it had been caused by a female uterus, ovaries, Fallopian tubes, a cervix and underdeveloped vaginal tissue.

african and non-african populations intermixed well after migration out of africa 60,000 years ago, genome studies show

Researchers have probed deeper into human evolution by developing an elegant new technique to analyse whole genomes from different populations. One key finding from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute’s study is that African and non-African populations continued to exchange genetic material well after migration out-of-Africa 60,000 years ago. This shows that interbreeding between these groups continued long after the original exodus.

For the first time genomic archaeologists are able to infer population size and history using single genomes, a technique that makes fewer assumptions than existing methods, allowing for more detailed insights. It provides a fresh view of the history of humankind from 10,000 to one million years ago.

posted in science daily

sex with a good looking man is more likely to result in orgasm than sex with a minger

The likelihood of a link between men’s faces and women’s orgasms is more obvious than that between faces and cheating, but is nevertheless significant. In a study to be published in Evolution and Human Behavior, David Puts and his colleagues at Pennsylvania State University found what you might expect—that sex with a good-looking man is more likely to result in orgasm than sex with a minger. What this means is that good-looking men are even more likely to conceive children than was previously believed. Obviously, the handsome have more mating opportunities than the ugly. But if they more often bring a woman to orgasm, as well, each of those opportunities is more likely to result in conception, because contractions of the cervix and vagina during orgasm transport semen deeper into the reproductive tract.

And that is what Dr Puts found. He and his team recruited 70 couples and asked the women how they rated their men’s masculinity and attractiveness, and how often and when they orgasmed. They also asked independent observers to rate the men’s faces, and found broad agreement with the ratings from partners.

As they predicted, women whose menfolk had attractive, masculine faces orgasmed more often during intercourse. They did not, by contrast, orgasm more frequently during masturbation or other sexual activity. The extra orgasms also came at the same time as the man’s climax—just when they would do the most good for conception. Women are thus choosing which men father their children not only in whom they take to bed, but in how they react to them, sexually. The consequence, since looks are inherited, is that their sons, too, will be sexy. Whether they will be cheats and liars is another matter.

posted in the economist

do girls steal some of their mother’s beauty? sex bias in parental investment

One of my favorite rhetorical tricks is asking my students a question that has an obvious answer based on cultural expectations, but is wrong. So every year, when I start to teach my students about parental investment, I ask:

Who is harder to raise, sons or daughters?

I’ve asked by a show of hands and with iClickers, over the years, and the room of 750 is almost unanimous: daughters are harder to raise. So, then I get off the stage and walk around a bit. What do you mean by that? I ask.

Girls cause more gray hairs.
Girls cause more trouble when they start to like boys.
Girls are more work, and cost more money, since they shop all the time.
Girls talk back more.

And of course, there is always the saying that girls steal some of their mother’s beauty.
So then I show them this:

[follow the link or imagine four graphs here.]

Here is a graph of maternal longevity based on the number of sons or daughters they have. This data was based on a historical population from Finland from 1640-1870 using church records (Helle et al 2002). As you can see, the more sons mothers bear, the shorter their lifespans. You see the opposite for daughters. So sons have a negative impact, and daughters have a positive impact. This same trend has been found in records from a Flemish village (van de Putte et al 2003, 2004), where sons negatively impact lifespan but not daughters. Interestingly, data from church records from the field site where I work in rural Poland provides a slightly different picture: every offspring of either sex reduced lifespan by about 95 weeks (Jasienska et al 2006).

posted by professor kate clancy prof. of anthropology uni. of illinois.

wildlife photographer snaps photo of transvestite bird. For many animals, sex is determined by two chromosomes, called sex chromosomes. Among humans, for example, men have an X and a Y chromosome, while women have two Xs. Every cell in your body, except for sperm or egg cells, carries two sex chromosomes. But among mammals, like us, the Y chromosome carries a gene responsible for the development of testes, which release hormones that promote the development of male features. In women, the ovaries release different hormones that promote the traits we associate with being a female. The hormones are key to sex identity in humans and other mammals. In fact the dominant hormones can overwrite an abnormality in the sex chromosomes — that is one reason we don’t see gynandromorph humans. (Because of the influence of hormones, which diffuse throughout the body, one human can’t end up with distinct male and female halves. A number of other disorders in sexual development can occur among humans, such as when external and internal sex organs don’t match up or when someone possesses both male and female genitalia.) posted in christian science monitor
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wildlife photographer snaps photo of transvestite bird.

For many animals, sex is determined by two chromosomes, called sex chromosomes. Among humans, for example, men have an X and a Y chromosome, while women have two Xs. Every cell in your body, except for sperm or egg cells, carries two sex chromosomes. But among mammals, like us, the Y chromosome carries a gene responsible for the development of testes, which release hormones that promote the development of male features. In women, the ovaries release different hormones that promote the traits we associate with being a female.

The hormones are key to sex identity in humans and other mammals. In fact the dominant hormones can overwrite an abnormality in the sex chromosomes — that is one reason we don’t see gynandromorph humans. (Because of the influence of hormones, which diffuse throughout the body, one human can’t end up with distinct male and female halves. A number of other disorders in sexual development can occur among humans, such as when external and internal sex organs don’t match up or when someone possesses both male and female genitalia.)

posted in christian science monitor

indigenous people want to preserve their biocultural heritage and their genes. The fourth most important crop in the world, Potato was first domesticated in Peru about 10,000 years ago. And while western households may take them for granted, they are now inextricably tied to Quechua identity, much like corn to the Maya or Reindeer to the Saami, as the 13-minute documentary “The Potato Park / Parque de la Papa” shows. “Cusco is the center of origin of the potato, with the highest diversity of potato varieties found anywhere in the world. As guardians of the potatoes, Andean communities have, within challenging political contexts that favor international commercial interests, fought to protect their biocultural heritage. These actions have been supported by local governments, such as the Cusco regional government, and have led to five regions producing decrees that prohibit the use of GMOs … All that has been accomplished over the last 10 years of actions against GMOs in order to protect Peru’s high-quality natural, non-GMO crops is now being threatened,” Alejandro Argumedo of ANDES said in an email message to SLFP. posted in intercontinentalcry
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indigenous people want to preserve their biocultural heritage and their genes.

The fourth most important crop in the world, Potato was first domesticated in Peru about 10,000 years ago. And while western households may take them for granted, they are now inextricably tied to Quechua identity, much like corn to the Maya or Reindeer to the Saami, as the 13-minute documentary “The Potato Park / Parque de la Papa” shows.

“Cusco is the center of origin of the potato, with the highest diversity of potato varieties found anywhere in the world. As guardians of the potatoes, Andean communities have, within challenging political contexts that favor international commercial interests, fought to protect their biocultural heritage. These actions have been supported by local governments, such as the Cusco regional government, and have led to five regions producing decrees that prohibit the use of GMOs … All that has been accomplished over the last 10 years of actions against GMOs in order to protect Peru’s high-quality natural, non-GMO crops is now being threatened,” Alejandro Argumedo of ANDES said in an email message to SLFP.

posted in intercontinentalcry

happy mother's day

music and socialization linked by genetics. “Why is it that some of us can’t live without an iPod perpetually connected to our ears while others couldn’t care less about music? Our love of listening to tunes may be influenced by whether or not we carry a particular gene.” “Birds with the gene tend to twitter more than their AVPR1A-less peers which  indicates that this genetic trait makes animals more sociable. In addition, lizards and fish with the gene tend to be more, shall we say, amorous with one another. This could also be classified as being more social, depending on how well you like to get to know your friends.” posted in elements
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music and socialization linked by genetics.

“Why is it that some of us can’t live without an iPod perpetually connected to our ears while others couldn’t care less about music? Our love of listening to tunes may be influenced by whether or not we carry a particular gene.”

“Birds with the gene tend to twitter more than their AVPR1A-less peers which  indicates that this genetic trait makes animals more sociable. In addition, lizards and fish with the gene tend to be more, shall we say, amorous with one another. This could also be classified as being more social, depending on how well you like to get to know your friends.”

posted in elements

gene study challenges human origins in eastern africa

“A genetic analysis of modern hunter-gatherer populations in Africa suggests that humans evolved in the south of the continent, rather than the east, as has been thought. The work presents a major challenge to evidence from anthropology, as the earliest anatomically modern human skulls have all been found in eastern Africa; and to genetics, as humans in the rest of the world all carry a subset of genes found specifically in eastern Africa.”

posted in scientific american