DNA tracks human origins

DNA Tracks Human Origins

Definitions:

Genetic Blueprint- A assortment of DNA and genes that combine to make a blueprint, defining characteristics for the organism. 

Neanderthal- An extinct primitive species of Homo Neanderthalensis which existed nearly 350,000 years ago.

Summary:

This article discuses the new discovery from DNA that some humans have evolved from the Neanderthals. In fact, 1 to 4 percent of the people in Asia and Europe was inherited from the Neanderthals. As this extinct group existed 650,000 groups, the humans today have not replaced Neanderthals, but rather assimilated them into the gene pool. This test was done in Germany, where scientists extracted genetic blueprints from three bone fragments in Neanderthal woman whom were found in a cave in Croatia. The scientists compared these DNA to modern people's DNA and discovered that European and Asian ancestry carry Neanderthal DNA. Many researchers were surprised of this finding as no one could possibly think that our people today could be related to a species that existed hundreds of thousands of years ago. 

Discussion:

I myself was surprised at the fact that there are people with Neanderthal DNA living upon us. I chose this article because I thought it would be interesting to see who we are related to and evoluted from. I didn't know what my family origins were, with the exceptions of recent generations, until this article explained that people are and could be related to this species that are extinct for over 650,000 years. It further interests me as technically the Neanderthals are not extinct, but in fact living upon us. This explains the evolution of life and because the Neanderthals are similar and related to us, then their way of life might of been similar to ours today, the only factor being technology. 

Questions:

Two questions came to me after reading the article:

If we are related to this species that existed thousands of years ago, are there more species that existed long before the Neanderthals that scientists have yet to discover that we are related to them too?

Because our society today is so infused with technology, how would the Neanderthals way of life be different with none of this technology?
These questions may motivate me to do further research on this topic as I am very interested on the topic of ancestry and would be interested to do additional research

Resources:

Picture: Gaurde, M. Human Evolution. 29 Dec. 2009. Wikimedia Commons. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 

     Sept. 2010. <http://www.google.com/ 
     imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/ 
     Human_evolution_scheme_(2).jpg&imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ 
     File:Human_evolution_scheme_(2).jpg&usg=__UjViwl_fjrgrQpNbvCOCOCHmSBk=&h=713&w=13 
     54&sz=77&hl=en&start=90&sig2=ltX0EUgTdA7J1pb7NtsxIQ&zoom=1&tbnid=ZQ09TiDbQoU7HM:& 
     tbnh=88&tbnw=168&ei=9gWcTJf7LpH6swO8mfzTCA&prev=/ 
     images%3Fq%3Dhuman%2Bevolution%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1440%26bih%3D7 
     30%26tbs%3Disch:10,1703&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=202&vpy=493&dur=32&hovh=163&hovw= 
     310&tx=212&ty=142&oei=7QWcTKefLojAsAOQp-mXDA&esq=4&page=4&ndsp=32&ved=1t:429,r:17 
     ,s:90&biw=1440&bih=730>.

Article: Saey, Tina Hasman. "Modern people carry around Neandertal DNA, genome reveals."
     Science Reference Center. Science News, 5 June 2010. Web. 14 Sept. 2010.
     <http://puffin.harker.org:2092/ehost/
     detail?vid=4&hid=111&sid=6eed37e8-fea5-4c5a-b1f3-fddff982e3a6%40sessionmgr113&bda
     ta=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=sch&AN=51229609>.