“Within the region of DNA that was apparently undergoing evolution in response to the plague is a family of genes with typically clunky names.* They’re called Toll-like receptors, or TLRs, and the proteins they encode sit on the surface of… — Adam Rutherford Copy Share Image
“The unglamorous truth is that there are but a handful of uniquely human traits that we have clearly demonstrated are adaptations evolved to thrive… — Adam Rutherford Copy Share Image
“Except if you’re of European descent. Your lactase continues to work throughout your life. This unusual phenomenon is called lactase persistence, and although a… — Adam Rutherford Copy Share Image
“One fifth of people alive a millennium ago in Europe are the ancestors of no one alive today. Their lines of descent petered out… — Adam Rutherford Copy Share Image
“Nineteen teeth from twelve sixth-century plague pits in Aschheim near Munich provided the source of the Code of Justinian. In among the ancient human… — Adam Rutherford Copy Share Image
“There are dozens of documented cases of Roma or Irish Travelers being falsely accused of stealing children over the twentieth century, and back through… — Adam Rutherford Copy Share Image
“There’s a cave in this hinterland of Siberia, called Denisova, named after an eighteenth-century eremite called Denis who lived there.” — Adam Rutherford Copy Share Image
“brain activity in a heartbeat. All of that says Richard. But the DNA in consort with the paper trail of a genealogy available only… — Adam Rutherford Copy Share Image
“Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge . . . says Darwin in The Descent of Man, his study of the evolution of… — Adam Rutherford Copy Share Image
“crunching. The amount of introgression from Neanderthals is proportionally lower on the modern X than on the rest of the chromosomes. X chromosomes are… — Adam Rutherford Copy Share Image
“Mind you, Darwin fretted about a lot of stuff, especially his health, his kids, and maybe with just cause. On occasion he would write… — Adam Rutherford Copy Share Image
“Pedigree is a word derived from the middle French phrase pied de grue—the crane’s foot—as the digits and hallux spread from a single joint… — Adam Rutherford Copy Share Image
