Human History

The results of the Human Genome Project will help us understand our relationships with the past. The task is not easy. Imagine the effort that is needed to understand our heritage. The figure to the left shows the gene overlaps among four primates. Note that the human chromosome #2 is prepresented by two chromosomes in the other apes. Humans and chimpanzees share over 98% of the same genes.

Genes are constantly being exchanged among migrating and shifting populations, especially humans, making the job to determine relationships difficult at best.

• How do archeologists, anthropologists, and persons interested in human lineages use DNA information?
• How do authorities use DNA data to identify people?