Who We Are and How We Got Here
Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past
David Reich
OUP
368 pages; Rs 495
Let’s start with the non-controversial elements. The author is a geneticist, who specialises in the study of ancient DNA. His Harvard lab isolated Neanderthal genes and figured out ratios of Neanderthal genes in modern human genomes.
Mr Reich uses highly sophisticated techniques to extract DNA from bones and works out genome-wide characteristics of ancient populations. Statistical methods can then be used to make educated guesses at human migration patterns, by comparing ancient DNA data to modern DNA. Those can be
