Human Origins

Fossil discovery - new piece in the puzzle

Melanie Gosling A prehistoric human skull from the Eastern Cape has provided a vital "missing link" in the fossil record which shows that modern people originally came from sub-Saharan Africa and migrated to colonise Europe and Asia around 30 000 to 40 000 years ago. The 36 000-year-old Hofmeyr skull, named after the Karoo town where it was found, shows that people living in Africa at that time looked the same as people living in Europe then.

HIV-1 originated in wild chimpanzees

An international team of scientists, assisted by Cameroonian officials, and led by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), has discovered a crucial missing link in the search for the origin of HIV-1, the virus responsible for human AIDS. That missing link is the natural reservoir of the virus, which the team has found in wild-living chimpanzees in southern Cameroon.

Evolution comes with a twist

Megan Morris Digging up the past: A paper published by Dr Rebecca Ackermann and an American colleague could well open up some fresh debates in evolutionary thinking. Photo by KM Ackermann.

Neandertal genome sequence published

Results reveal genetic differences between Neandertals and modern humans, and suggest some interbreeding An international research team has sequenced the Neandertal genome, using pill-sized samples of bone powder from three Neandertal bones found in a cave in Croatia. The results appeared in the 7 May issue of the journal Science, which is published by AAAS, the nonprofit science society.

Every gene tells a story

Izelle Theunissen, MRC News Genes reveal more than whether you were going to have a crooked nose or curly hair. They can also spill the beans about where your ancestors come from. Dr Himla Soodyall of the MRC 's Human Genomic Diversity and Disease Research Unit tells more about the origins of the Lemba. The Lemba (or Remba, as they are known in Zimbabwe) is a group of Bantu-speakers who tell a fascinating account of their ancestry. Now genetic techniques pioneered by Dr Soodyall and her team bear their legends out.

360 million year old fossils from the Eastern Cape of South Africa unveil the first page in the story of terrestrial animal life on the old continent of Gondwana	Early dentistry in Homo erectus link to prosocial behaviour
Are humans evolving faster?	Fast forensic test can match suspects' DNA with crime samples in 4 hours
Neandertal genome sequence published	Bushman and Bantu genomes sequenced
Genes for Teens	Researchers discover evidence of very recent human adaptation
'Ancestral eve' was mother of all tooth decay	Out of Africa: Modern humans migrated along with bacteria
Fossil discovery - new piece in the puzzle	HIV-1 originated in wild chimpanzees
Evolution comes with a twist	Neandertal genome sequence published
Every gene tells a story	Human Origins - Evidence in the Genes

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