Sequencing the Neandertal Genome

I didn't know that our heavily browed relative, the Neandertal, was named so because the first partial skull was found in a cave in Neander Tal (Neander Valley - Tal is German for Valley) in western Germany, east of Dusseldorf. I just imagined the name had some Latin significance. - silly me.

A new article published on Sciencemag.org, the web counterpart to Science Magazine, shows that a long list of scientists have had a hand in the building a draft (unfinished) sequence of the Neandertal genome - neat let's grow one in a big jar. The cure for male pattern baldness is only a petri dish away...

Also, noted in an article by Carl Zimmer, Skull Caps and Genomes, and one of the most interesting facts brought to light so far is that "Today, the people of Europe and Asia have genomes that are 1 to 4 percent Neanderthal." Signs of likely interbreeding (gene flow) less than 100,000 years ago - blagh.

In the Sciencemag article, population divergence, the point in time when modern humans and Neandertals diverged as separate species, is discussed. It is currently accepted to have happened between 270,000 and 440,000 years ago.

Imagine a bar full of different species of human relatives. A pretty, nearly modern, human woman sits sipping her third wild berry martini all alone, when a Neandertal male, previously split from her group over a quarter million years ago, approaches and compliments her on her small, smooth forehead and excellent posture. She giggles and thinks, why not?

However, the post-divergence interbreeding is not the only possible answer - thankfully. In the Sciencemag article, four possible scenarios have been identified to account for the 1 to 4 percent of Neandertal genetic content of Europeans and Asians. Of the four choices:

1. Gene flow into Neandertals from other pre-existing hominins - they refer to the collection as Homo erectus
2. Gene flow (possibly back and forth) from late Neandertals to early modern humans, Homo sapien
3. Neandertal gene flow between the ancestors of all non-Africans (meaning Europeans, Asians, etc.) that happened after they left Africa
4. Neandertals co-existed with the ancestors of the European, Asian, and others and the gene flow happened before they left Africa 

Methods 3 & 4 seem to fit the data, but the group seems to think that scenario 3 is the most likely. So it does seem that after the group of beings destined to populate most of Europe and Asia arrived, they had a little Neandertal slipped into their gene pool. Where was the lifeguard on duty that day? 

For the most part, I feel okay about it. Although it could explain why I furrow my brows and make grunting noises when I'm frustrated, and my predilection for games where the object is to hit something with a stick. 

And, I still think Captain Cavemen and the Teen Angels was one of the best Hanna Barbara cartoons ever made. Hey, that's the perfect analogy for Neandertal gene flow into modern humans. A cave man traveling around with three attractive, obviously Homo sapien, women in a van. We all know that vans are love machines on wheels...

No one ever said that being human wasn't gross. After all of the approximately 100 trillion human cells that comprise the body of the average person, we are host to 10 to 20 times that amount of others. The others are bacteria, fungus, and other creepy crawlies - but that a topic for another post.

_____________
A note about the spelling of Neandertal vs. Neanderthal. Zimmer used Neanderthal throughout his article and the Sciencemag article used Neandertal.  It seems that most sciencey people use Neandertal now - a return to the original German spelling and pronunciation. Two good discussions of the nomenclature at Talk Origins and at John Hawks blog who also has a great post on the new Neandertal Genome news. However, in Neandertal Germany there is a Neanderthal Museum - go figure...
_____________

Flea Market Photos - Salt and Pepper Bovines

Well, after that last heavy, preachy post, I thought you might like some humorous salt and pepper bovines. In the last pic you can tell that the green shirt one is the cow and the black vest is the bull. Like all great cartoon character and humorously anthropomorphized animals before them, they wear tops but no bottoms. I don't really know why I find this so funny; my wife thinks I need therapy.

Michael Specter: The Danger of Science Denial

If you had access to a time machine, would you go forward or backward in time? Forward absolutely - gimme the good stuff. A lot of people would like to go back - see some dinosaurs, Cleopatra, crap like that. I too have some times and places I'd like to experience -  ancient Greece and learn from Aristotle, even more ancient China and talk with the Buddha, experience a Jimmi Hendrix concert live at his peak - you know the greats!

Right now, even though we are at an all time high of technology and knowledge, it seems we are at the precipice of a great back slide - a new intellectual dark age where people no longer believe that science is factual. Where ancient homeopathic cures are more trusted than modern medicine because they are deemed 'natural' therefore better and because the ancients knew something that we don't today. Yes, it is true that aspirin is derived from the bark of a willow tree. But, it took chemists to distill out the curative chemicals and concentrate them so we can take two small pills and don't have to boil down large quantities of bark to make a bitter liquid (of an uncontrolled and unknown concentration) to drink.

Here's the problem, an easily grasped belief seems more true and real to a lot of people than real science, that is very difficult to understand. I don't pretend to understand all of the science I believe in. To a large degree I am taking the word of the scientists that they are conducting their experiments correctly and are reporting the results correctly. However, what I do have over a concocted belief is the all mighty Scientific Method. Test your beliefs against the scientific method and see if they hold up - then I will believe.

Genetically Modified foods create mutant monsters?! Tested false. There are some concerns, but let's not dismiss them without knowing the facts. GM foods on my plate? Yes, a second helping please. Do you realize that without GM foods we'd never be able to feed the billions on this planet? Plant disease resistance, drought tolerance, vitamin enrichment are not bad qualities. So GM foods or vast famine; don't trust me, do your own research. Or just go eat a petroleum-based cream filled, yellow dye colored artificial sponge cake and be quiet.

Vaccines will give children autism and a host of other nasty diseases? What you believed was wrong. Tested false. Vaccines against disease? Yes, please. If I never get the flu again, I buying my doctor a gold-plated putter for his short game. Vaccines have been proven over and over to not cause autism, however they DO prevent or polio, rubella, and other crippling and debilitating diseases; once again don't trust me, look it ups on your own. And don't trust an entertainment celebrity as an authority, go to the people who do research and have professional degrees and careers established on science. Or you could dig out the leg braces that your great grandfather wore because of his brush with polio and oil the hinges because your child might need them.

Because, let me tell you people, prayer and placebos did not make your vitamin enriched breakfast cereal, your pasteurized milk and your smart phone - science did.

Placebos are fine until belief replaces science, then people die. And it is a slippery slope once your beliefs start to replace fact. Did bleeding ever cure anyone? Can acupuncture cure cancer?

And now a short video...





For some unrelated amusement on this topic listen to Brian Dunning of the podcast Skeptoid sing "Buy It!"

A Long Day in a Short Life

Have you ever felt like work was just one big train of lemmings and 'yes' men? And when someone with vision and intestinal fortitude finally comes along - they're given a long walk on a short pier? The best person for the job just performed an assisted belly-flop in the empty pool of life. There is something to be said for standing in the back of the line. Keep your head down and play more Tetris.

Here's a couple of shorties that illustrate my point...



These are from The New Yorker Animated Cartoon series - I found them on Hulu

The Movie Title

Finally here's a movie that run the gamut of human emotion! The  dialog is direct and revealing. The acting is heroic and cleansing. The popcorn was crunchy and salty. The soda was cold and overpriced. The ending was everything I expected, but not more.
Hurray for the screenwriter who finally shows us the true heart and soul of American film making - the formulaic margin notes!

Mitchell Joachim of Terreform, on sustainable architecture

Ficus - the home of the future! Let's all move to the tropics!

Google Liquid Galaxy live demo at TED

It's running on 7 Linux machines. At the very end of the video you can hear "School's Out" by Alice Cooper in the background. See, nerds are cool.

Or go and watch it in highdef @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atV2foTBbyE