Primate Conservation Genomics and Paleogenomics (original) (raw)

2015, American Anthropologist

Over the past few decades, anthropologists have increasingly used genetic approaches in their efforts to understand humans and their primate relatives. Technological and theoretical developments in recent years have enabled anthropological geneticists to expand their field of inquiry far beyond what was thought possible even a few years ago (Crawford 2000). Most importantly, the cost of collecting large genetic data sets has dropped dramatically, aiding researchers to better investigate complex questions such as the organization of our genome and the diversity of microbes living in our guts. Spectacular recent genetic discoveries, moreover, have altered understandings of our relationships to other hominin lineages. For example, genetic data have shown that both Neandertals (Green et al. 2010) and a newly discovered Denisovan population (Krause et al. 2010; Meyer et al. 2012) interbred with modern humans. Anthropological geneticists have long examined biological relationships among populations and described genetic variants such as disease-causing mutations that can be linked to specific human phenotypes (Crawford 2000). Great advances have been made on both fronts. The general patterns of human dispersal across the globe have been established (e.g., Henn et al. 2012). Genetic data continue to reveal the complex demographic histories of regional populations. In particular, studies have revealed how both geography and culture have stratified genetic diversity in contemporary populations. This can happen over short periods of time, as with the genetic stratification by religion of populations in the Levant (Haber et al. 2013). Our emerging understanding of diverse complex interactions between genetics and culture has both increased our understanding of these

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