Where Did We All Come From? Tracing Human Migration Using Genetic Markers

Presented by Professor Moses Schanfield.

Of all species on the face of the earth, humans are the most disperse, in that they occupy the most diverse eco-systems present on all large land masses and most large islands.
In recent time, much work has been done using maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA, and non-recombinant Y (NRY) chromosome markers to map human migration and ancestry. In addition, large numbers of other DNA based markers have been used for similar purposes. However, anthropological geneticists have been looking at human migration and ancestry for as long as there have been genetic markers, starting with the ABO blood groups.

Professor Schanfield is a world authority on the genetic markers on antibodies, and has applied genetic marker testing, both protein- and DNA-based, to the study of anthropologic and forensic genetics. He was involved in some of the earliest forensic DNA cases, and has been involved in some famous forensic cases including the OJ Simpson case and the JonBenét Ramsey case. Professor Schanfield is a co-editor of the book Forensic DNA Applications: An Interdisciplinary Perspective with Professor Dragan Primorac which will be released in February 2014 by Taylor and Francis. He is currently Professor of Forensic Science and Anthropology at George Washington University.

Professor Schanfield has undergraduate and Masters Degrees in Anthropology from the University of Minnesota and Harvard University, respectively and a Ph.D in Human Genetics from the University of Michigan.

Views expressed are those of the speaker and do not necessarily represent the views
of the National Capital Area Skeptics.

[zoltanmeszaros]

This lecture should be written. It is the most detailed I ever saw on Youtube, and deals with the core of the problem.

[jhotimiro]

The content of your lecture on human genetics has absolutely fascinated me to "the nucleus", since my teen years. Simply knowing, at 14 yo even what mitochondrial is and the difference between mitochondrial and nucleic DND astounded me! I am stunned to hear you say that people were uninterested in this topic. People listening in are INHERENTLY As I am many of your subscribers are riveted to this topic. Cellular biology is sadly boring to many but INCREDIBLE to I and my kind. Thank you for sharing your precious cellular knowledge with us. I remember, up until recently, having to pay a student loan to know this fantastic information!

[michaelkennedy]

Better we have (scientific) questions we can't answer, then (religious) answers we can't question.

[caseyjude]

Love the tie! Thanks for posting, I really enjoyed this video. I feel like I’ve been talking to a wall when I try to explain to folks about commercial genetic testing stuff. I’m glad I can send this video as explanation. Genetics is complicated, and these for profit companies are profiting off that.

[BallyBoy]

This video really takes me back to my BSc in Biomedicine, wish I saw this video sooner, would have heightened my curiosity in all this jazz when I was lost for motivation, nonetheless, amazing video, a pity all of the comments below are more interested in religion and politics, rather than the Science.

[augnkn]

42:55 “Jamaica originally had an indigenous native population. Which the British promptly worked to death.” Wrong. It was the Spanish.

Note. The British took over the island later and did import and use slaves.

[bandwagon]

First out-of-africa Africans populated coastline areas from Yemen to South East Asia, Australia, China and Japan (75 000 - 85 000 BP). Much later they penetrated to inner Eurasia (35 000 - 50 000 BP). Europe was not populated via Nile-Sinai-Palestine-Turkey route. It was populated from Gulf to Mesopotamia to Turkey and Caucasus route.

[vgrof]

Maybe I missed something, but I think he said we couldn't be sure modern humans mixed with Neanderthals because the common DNA between the two might be from a common ancestor. Doesn't the fact that modern Africans do not have any Neanderthal DNA answer that question?

[toma]

A bit detailed for me and I found it a challenge to keep up with all the terminology. I would add that Professor Schanfield gave an excellent presentation. Good speaking skills, the audio is great and the slides displayed are clear. A lot of other YouTube presenters could use this as a benchmark. It is disappointing when I watch other professional technical presentations where the audio and slides are not up to par.

[zanthornton]

I regularly watch STEM "shows' you-tube, internet, natgeo, & PBS. Most shows are entertainment like what if's pseudo-science (Ancient Aliens) or hybrids (Cosmos 2).
Often info is dumb-down, treating all viewers as uneducated gullible consumers. This lecture
although some white privileged comments, is THE BEST DNA lecture to date.
This info explains how DNA works, how measured, & why DNA tests can often be faulty like certain "brand" used in several PBS shows. while it does not dis-prove the PBS shows, it helps clarify issues. I am a identical mirror image twin. when I checked the box I was native american, my dna test said I had Indian DNA markers (4 kinds). Yet my twin had 1 marker for native.Some of our family tested without mentioning Indian and the "amount" was nearly zero. So if you test dna, do it from several agencies who don't use the same lab. Also the database that shows your haplogroups is FREE, online, and updated weekly!

[imemyself]

It's pretty obvious people commenting did not watch the presentation.
The age of this video shows, as it follows the old empiric assumption, man migrated out of Africa - but it does'nt mean anything in this context.

[martinrag]

2018 update

Only a few of you may know, that human genome was never completely sequenced.
Nor was the chimpanzee genome or any other mammal.

Here is a 2017 article on this (a lot of known scientists are quoted in regards to this fact),

i also like the headline of the article:

"Psst, the human genome was never completely sequenced. Some scientists say it should be"



So, now, you have 2 incomplete genomes, so how could you give any numbers on similarity???

Also, layman people and perhaps students as well, who think that we are 99% similar with chimps should watch this updated video explanation done by scientists (from 2015):


Notice, when the woman sums up:

"Yes, we share 99% with chimps, if we ignore 18% of their genome and 25% of ours"


So, again, a lot of data is missing ...

[lisarochwarg]

Three-quarters of the way through, I realized that I was hopelessly struggling with the phrase "genetic drift."

[brianq-peep]

Excellent, but needs to do a new one. So much has happened new in the last few years

[owlspook]

Thoughly enjoyed your lecture ... thanks for sharing (smile)

[Viktir]

Update to this video maker:
The lab "23andme" got the OK last year for following the FDA's standards to allow us to have our genetic health review sent to us.

[lechandler]

I see this lecture is 6 years old. I wonder how out of date this information is.

[Moronvideos]

We came from Dinosaur dung approximately 66 million years ago DST

[mohbbot]

I don't see the professor answering questions here... Too bad I had my DNA tested @ familytreedna and I was adopted and I have a few questions I'd like to ask him...

[radrook]

Strange as it might seem, my personal experience has been that evil people come in all colors and from all ethnic and religious groups.