Route to roots: understanding human origins with Himla Soodyall
Channel: Science and Cocktails Johannesburg
Date: 2015-11-02

Science & Cocktails Johannesburg
27 October 2015 
Speaker:  Prof. Himla Soodyall --  director of the Human Genomic Diversity and Disease Research Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand.

 How can we trace our genetic ancestry? How did modern humans come to occupy all parts of the globe? Did humans exchange genes with Neanderthals? Did Neanderthals speak?

The genetic approach to understanding the past is based on examining the DNA in living people and then reconstructing the history of changes (mutations) that have accumulated over time to some point way back in the past. Our DNA thus carries an unbiased record of our past and is a powerful system that can sometimes lead to unexpected revelations.

Professor Himla Soodyall guides us through the techniques used to uncover the genetic history of modern humans and what these findings tell us about how humans evolved, interacted and expanded out of their African origins into every corner of the planet.

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