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DECEMBER 7, 2000

A study published in today's issue of the science journal Nature says that DNA studies show human populations came from Africa then spread out among the rest of the planet.

The researchers used techniques developed by the Human Genome Project to examine the mitochondrial DNA of 53 people of various ethnic and racial backgrounds. Included are Piman, Chukchi, Siberian Inuit, and Guarani (South American Indian) DNA.

By comparing the rate of change of the difference between humans to that of chimpanzees, the researchers then concluded that humans left Africa about 50,000 years ago.

Evidence for the existence of humans in the Americas has been dated as far back as 23,000 years ago. Critics of theories that indigenous people arrived via the Bering Strait point out that the earliest populations must have been very fast travellers.

Get the Story:
DNA study reinforces `out-of-Africa' theory of human evolution (AP 12/7)

Relevant Links:
Nature - www.nature.com/nature

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Relevant Links:
The Human Genome Project at the Department of Energy: www.ornl.gov/hgmis
The National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institute of Health: www.nhgri.nih.gov
Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues (ELSI) of the Human Genome Project: www.ornl.gov/hgmis/resource/elsi.html
Declaration of Indigenous Peoples of the Western Hemisphere Regarding the Human Genome Diversity Project: www.indians.org/welker/genome.htm