New algorithm maps human genome, finds only 1.5 to 7 percent is uniquely human
Researchers developed an ancestral recombination graph algorithm to map genetic relationships among modern humans, Neanderthals, and Denisovans. The method scales to large genome-wide datasets and produced a map showing which regions of human genomes came from archaic hominins through admixture or incomplete lineage sorting and which did not. The analysis found that only 1.5 to 7 percent of the modern human genome is uniquely human. The team also identified multiple bursts of adaptive changes specific to modern humans within the past 600,000 years. Those changes involved genes related to brain development and function.
The findings clarify how much of the modern human genome is distinct from archaic hominins and reveal adaptive changes that shaped human brain evolution over the past 600,000 years.
Written by the Genomes desk from the primary source linked above and checked against it. Research use only; not medical advice. Corrections: [email protected].