Sunday, July 02, 2006

We Are Family

New mathematical and genealogical research suggests we all have a common ancestor in the last five to ten thousand years.
Yet this was the ancestor of every person now living on Earth -- the last person in history whose family tree branches out to touch all 6.5 billion people on the planet today.

That means everybody on Earth descends from somebody who was around...recently.
Interesting. Science is beginning to show answers that match another account we've heard before.

Other research into our common genetic heritage has also gathered steam as science tries to show a more clear picture of our human history based on our our genetic origins. As I have mentioned before, the National Geographic's Genographic Project is seeking to further research our DNA to determine some of these historical answers. While they date our common ancestor longer ago than this other research does, it's actually also much more recent than most scientists had previously thought. Anyone can participate in the Genographic Project, and I'd encourage you to if you are curious as to your deep ancestral lineage.

1 comment:

Chairman said...

Actually, Westy, this has already happened in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama on a much faster time horizon.

It seems that the Bible Belt is taking full advantage of biblically mixed messages toward inbreeding.

-Chairman