Two of the biggest scientific breakthroughs in paleoanthropology occurred in 2010. Not only was there now a draft genome of a Neanderthal from bones that lay in the earth for tens of thousands of years, but the genome from a heretofore unknown human relative, Denisovans, was also announced. It was now undeniable that modern humans had mated with both of these extinct humanlike beings. Genomics is also making base-by-base comparisons between our genome and those of our other primate cousins. Darwin presciently wrote that “the difference in mind between man and the higher animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree and not of kind.” The study of genomes allows us to probe how human populations have adapted to habitats, climates, diets, and pathogens. By comparing the genomes of peoples from around the world, we are discovering ancient footprints left by natural selection. Eugene Harris is professor of biological sciences and geology at the City University of New York and an affiliated researcher with the Center for the Study of Human Origins at New York University.
