The scenic route out of Africa.

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  • Author(s): Hooper, Rowan
  • Source:
    New Scientist. 5/21/2005, Vol. 186 Issue 2500, p14-14. 1p.
  • Additional Information
    • Subject Terms:
      GENETIC research; POPULATION; EMIGRATION & immigration; MITOCHONDRIAL DNA; GENETIC mutation
    • Subject Terms:
      AFRICA; ASIA
    • Abstract:
      The article reports on a study which concludes that modern humans emerged just once out of Africa — and headed straight for the coast. It is widely accepted that modern humans left Africa relatively recently, and most researchers thought that the route was northwards, overland into the Middle East and beyond. But by measuring genetic variation in an isolated population in south-east Asia, the researchers conclude that the dispersal happened via a more southerly route. The team analyzed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from 260 members of the Orang Asli people, an isolated population who live in Malaysia and whose ancestors were the original inhabitants of the Malay peninsula. By comparing their samples with mtDNA from people in Eurasia and Australasia the team could work out when the migration out of Africa happened, based on the accumulation of mutations in the DNA.