by AGuest 233 Replies latest jw friends
NC this is where the claim comes from:
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2006/nov/16/scientists_reconstruct_part_neanderthal_dna/
Rubin also said analysis so far suggests human and Neanderthal DNA are some 99.5 percent to nearly 99.9 percent identical.
-Sab
Yeah, I don't think that's correct. I've never heard it, not in college anthropology or in the scientific mags and pages I read. You might want to check around. If anyone else can shine some light on this, I'd really appreciate it. I think it is a mistake, but am not a gentics expert, so I may be missing something.
BTS, Where are you? He knows a lot about this stuff.
Okay, I'm looking at the article, and it is dated 2006. It was reporting on the very beginning of some research that had not yet been concluded. At that point, they expected it to take another 2 years. This is where critical thinking kicks in. Do you want to take information from research in its infancy, or do you want to take your information from more current data that came after the research was completed?
I will continue to look into it, because as I said, I'm not a genetics expert, but these are red flags that would cause me to look deeper into an issue. I thought the final mapping didn't come until around 2010ish--but not 100% sure.
Another red flag, is that this article is saying that 99% of Neanderthal dna is shared with us, yet native Africans don't have any Neanderthal DNA. European DNA is not 99% different from African DNA, so there is another red flag.
Europeans only have about 2.5% neanderthal dna. This is from a science article in the guardian of june 19, 2011.
'Fossil fragments from Croatia have yielded up a nearly entire Neanderthal genome, providing rich data that promise insights into their biology – from eye colour and hair type through to skull shape and brain functions. These latest results have largely confirmed a separation from our lineage about 350,000 years ago. But when the new Neanderthal genome was compared in detail with modern humans from different continents, the results produced an intriguing twist to our evolutionary story: the genomes of people from Europe, China and New Guinea lay slightly closer to the Neanderthal sequence than did those of Africans. Thus if you are European, Asian or New Guinean, you could have 2.5% of Neanderthal DNA in your genetic make-up.
The most likely explanation for this discovery is that the ancestors of today's Europeans, Asians and New Guineans interbred with Neanderthals (or at least with a population that had a component of Neanderthal genes) in North Africa, Arabia or the Middle East, as they exited Africa about 60,000 years ago.'
S
99% ......... That is nonsense. That must have beea reference in a christian article that was trying to claim neanderthals were actually human. What you have said is equivelant to quoting someone that still believes the earth is flat.
you say you get frustrated with semantics and specifics i.e. neanderthals are not what we evolved from but shared a common ancestor. This is a HUGE point, its not a semantic. This is how science works. When a doctor is dosing your chemotherapy and radiation... Specifics and semantics matter. Welcome to dealing with facts like an adult, like a scientist.
you really are being silly and i hope you teach your child to think and question and not skip the specifics and semantics! Critical thinking is a life saving skill.
Welcome to dealing with facts like an adult, like a scientist.
I don't know where that quote came from, but my understanding is some modern humans share 1 to 4 percent of Neanderthal DNA---suggesting interbreeding.
Hi NC. It is more accurate to say that modern humans from some parts of the world have received 1 to 4 percent of their genetic data from Neanderthals. The DNA is very nearly the same. The genes are there, it is just that the variants (actual encoded data) are somewhat different.
I'd also like to address a previous part of the discussion. Some are saying we are descended from Neanderthals. Some are saying we aren't descended from Neanderthals, but that we are a parallel branch with a common ancestor. In a sense, both statements are true, although the second statement is truer. Neanderthals are a different branch than Sapiens, but genes flowed into the modern Sapiens population from Neanderthals through interbreeding.
99% ......... That is nonsense.
Even if the "99%" data is false it proves that Science doesn't know what it's talking about in regards to this subject. Going from 99.9% to 1-4% is a pretty ridiculous range and is evidence of incompetency or a cover up. I think a cover up is very possible. I could easily see scientists coming across infomration that Neanderthal is almost exactly human and then changing the data so that evolution is further evidenced.
The way it works is that falsification of data could be justified for the future of a certain science to come to full fruition. The root of all evil is tied to money. Lets say without "discovery A" they will not get any funding to make "discoveries B, C and D." It's been done many times in the past. A scientist will know their stuff and create a hoax that will further their own research. They are not simply charlatans, but are developing strategy against enemies who seek to discredit their research. It's a war of sorts. Desperate times come with desperate measures.
I personally don't see how they could get it THAT wrong. This seems fishy to me and I am glad I found that quote. I will be focusing on figuring out why it just fell off the radar all of the sudden.
-Sab
In a sense, both statements are true
OMG thank you BC for pointing this out. I seem to be the victim of a semantics missile.
-Sab
There is no conflict between the two statements (99% and 3%). Both Sapiens and Neanderthals share common DNA in percentages exceeding 99%.
These are DNA, but genes encoded in that DNA have variants. The majority of differences between Neanderthal and Sapiens genes are related to sperm and testis, smell, and skin. We see variations between humans too, even though 100% of the DNA is the same. Some of us carry gene variants that allow us to process milk, for example. Others have mutations that confer resistence to HIV. Same DNA, different mutations of those genes encoded in the DNA.
