Like it or not, it would appear we were all once upon a time black!!! The post below may be relevant in view of the fact that there has been a niagara of prejudicial
outpourings of sorts ever since 9/11 of 2001 from self-styled liberal-minded folks and Christians!
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DNA tests reveal our African ancestry
American geneticist Spencer Wells says 'we are all brothers and sisters separated by a mere 2,000 generations'
SECRETS from my past were unlocked by a DNA test I took two weeks ago.
I discovered, through genetic detective work, that although my forefathers came from Fujian province in southern China, I am African under my skin.
In fact, similar DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) tests have shown that everyone in the world has a common African ancestry.
Whether Chinese, Malay, Indian, Caucasian, Arab or any other race, we are all descendants of Africans who started moving out of the continent about 50,000 years ago.
The significance of the so-called 'out of Africa' theory of the history of the human race is that we are all closely related to each other.
'It shows that concepts of race do not matter,' geneticist Dr Spencer Wells, 33, told The Straits Times. 'It demonstrates that there is no genetic basis to race theories.'
Dr Wells, who analysed my DNA sample, adds: 'We are all brothers and sisters separated by a mere 2,000 generations. Old-fashioned concepts of race are not only socially divisive but scientifically wrong.'
According to the 'out-of-Africa' theory, humans numbered approximately 10,000 about 50,000 years ago. They lived in Africa.
Then came the Ice Age, which turned most of the earth's moisture into ice. This phenomenon resulted in lush pastureland transformed into desert.
In the face of adversity, a small band was forced to leave its African homeland on a journey in search of food.
It moved in waves, the first going directly to Australia, making the aborigines the second oldest population on earth. A second wave went to the Middle East. From there, two waves travelled to China, one to the north and the other to the south.
Another group from the Middle East went to Central Asia, where it stayed for thousands of years before spawning new groups of travellers - some going east to Europe, others north to Siberia.
For this reason, Central Asia became the 'nursery' for mankind.
Later, some 13,000 years ago, the Siberia group moved across Asia and crossed the Bering Strait into America. These people were the ancestors of Native Americans.
These bold waves of migrations are verified in a new scientific field called 'genetic anthropology'.
Researchers from Stanford University and other institutions, including Dr Wells, found that clues hidden in DNA could be pieced together to map the human family tree.
They examined DNA sequences, called markers, on the Y chromosome (the male chromosome). The markers are genetic fingerprints.
The Y chromosome is the most powerful molecular tool for tracing human evolutionary history because it remains unchanged over thousands and thousands of years when passed from father to son.
The researchers found that every male could trace his ancestry to forefathers who lived in Africa over the past 35,000 to 89,000 years. These people originated in the continent about 100,000 years ago.
The incredible journey of our ancestors was retraced by Dr Wells, a child prodigy who entered university at the age of 15, in a National Geographic Channel special, Journey of Man, which will premiere next month.
To support the programme, the channel selected 150 people from around the world - two from Singapore, including me - to participate in the scientific research.
Our DNA samples were collected from swabbing the inside of our cheeks with buccal brushes. These were sent to the United States for analysis by Dr Wells.
The analysis of my DNA (see graphic) showed that my ancestors originated in East Africa. They moved out to the Middle East about 45,000 years ago and stayed for 5,000 years before moving to Central Asia. Then, they finally settled in East Asia via the Eurasian steppes around 35,000 years ago.
Commented Dr Wells on the migrations: 'You can call it mankind's great leap forward. It showed that we are best as a species when we deal with adversity.
'You had to be clever to survive,' he added.
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(ex. Straits Times, Nov. 23rd edn.)
The National Geographic programme, Journey Of Man, will premiere on Dec 15 at 9 pm on Channel 11 of StarHub Cable TV. |
