--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: DNA ties us all together; we share…" description: "\"DNA ties us all together; we share ancestry with barracuda and bacteria and mushrooms, if you go far enough back.\" — Spencer Wells" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb9/spencer-wells-33666_ancestry_dna-ties-us-all-together-we-share-ancest_686436.png" --- # DNA ties us all together; we share ancestry with barracuda… ![“DNA ties us all together; we share ancestry with barracuda and bacteria and mushrooms, if you go far enough back.” quote by Spencer Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb9/spencer-wells-33666_ancestry_dna-ties-us-all-together-we-share-ancest_686436.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb9/spencer-wells-33666_ancestry_dna-ties-us-all-together-we-share-ancest_686436.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb9/spencer-wells-33666_ancestry_dna-ties-us-all-together-we-share-ancest_686436.png) > “DNA ties us all together; we share ancestry with barracuda and bacteria and mushrooms, if you go far enough back.” [Spencer Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-wells/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. All living beings share common ancestors if highlighting deep biological connections across species. **In simple terms:** All life is related. Key Takeaway Recognize our shared heritage. Themes evolution interconnectedness biology Mood wonder reflective Type informative inspirational When to use this quote - education - science communication - environmental advocacy Key Concepts genetics common ancestry phylogeny Questions to Reflect On - How does this perspective affect our view of biodiversity? - What responsibilities arise from recognizing shared ancestry? A Different Perspective Complexity of genetic lineage can be oversimplified. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ancestry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancestry/) [Bacteria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bacteria/) [Dna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dna/) [Evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution/) [Inspiration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspiration/) [Motivation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motivation/) [Ties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ties/) ## Related quotes > [ So what we can answer \[as geneticists\] is questions about biology, about biological ancestry. But to make any sense of that historically we have… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-wells/so-what-we-can-answer-as-geneticists-is-questions-about-biology-about/) [Spencer Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-wells/) > [It turns out that every person alive today can trace his or her ancestry back to Africa. Everyone's DNA tells a story of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-wells/it-turns-out-that-every-person-alive-today-can-trace-his-or-her/) [Spencer Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-wells/) > [I wasn't trying to work out my own ancestry. I was trying to get people to feel slavery. I was trying to get across…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-wasn-t-trying-to-work-out-my-own-ancestry-i-was-trying-to-get/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Both the ancestry and posterity of Grief go further than the ancestry and posterity of Joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/both-the-ancestry-and-posterity-of-grief-go-further-than-the-ancestry/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [The function of the artist is to disturb. His duty is to arouse the sleeper, to shake the complacent pillars of the world. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-bethune/the-function-of-the-artist-is-to-disturb-his-duty-is-to-arouse-the/) Norman Bethune > [I get anxious. That lovely Jewish guilt that comes with ancestry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-rudolph/i-get-anxious-that-lovely-jewish-guilt-that-comes-with-ancestry/) [Maya Rudolph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-rudolph/) > [I've never felt grounded because of my ancestry or my gender. I think until women get away from that they're not going to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/i-ve-never-felt-grounded-because-of-my-ancestry-or-my-gender-i-think/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [“I have always found it difficult not to be moved by Jerusalem, even when I hated it—and God knows I have hated it for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-abulhawa/i-have-always-found-it-difficult-not-to-be-moved-by-jerusalem-even/) [Susan Abulhawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-abulhawa/) > [I've got German, Cornish and Scottish ancestry. It might help explain my affinity for forests, the sea, and fatty foods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyle-maclachlan/i-ve-got-german-cornish-and-scottish-ancestry-it-might-help-explain/) [Kyle MacLachlan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyle-maclachlan/) > [Bird taxonomy is a difficult field because of the severe anatomical constraints imposed by flight. There are only so many ways to design a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/bird-taxonomy-is-a-difficult-field-because-of-the-severe-anatomical/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [Being a mixed-blood person of Ojibway and European ancestry, I always found that I only heard one side of the story - that was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-boyden/being-a-mixed-blood-person-of-ojibway-and-european-ancestry-i-always/) [Joseph Boyden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-boyden/) > [High birth is an accident, not a virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pietro-metastasio/high-birth-is-an-accident-not-a-virtue/) [Pietro Metastasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pietro-metastasio/) > [My life shall be free and broad and great, and I will not be the slave to the sense delights which chained my ancient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/my-life-shall-be-free-and-broad-and-great-and-i-will-not-be-the-slave/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) > [Blood is a destiny. One's genius descends in the stream from long lines of ancestry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/blood-is-a-destiny-one-s-genius-descends-in-the-stream-from-long/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [It is worthwhile for anyone to have behind him a few generations of honest, hard-working ancestry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-worthwhile-for-anyone-to-have-behind-him-a-few-generations-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Spencer Wells > [It turns out that every person alive today can trace his or her ancestry back to Africa. Everyone's DNA tells a story of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-wells/it-turns-out-that-every-person-alive-today-can-trace-his-or-her/) [Spencer Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-wells/) > [We spent an enormous amount of time as hominids and as primates living as hunter-gatherers. That is the natural way for us to live,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-wells/we-spent-an-enormous-amount-of-time-as-hominids-and-as-primates/) [Spencer Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-wells/) > [“Creativity is imagining something that isn't there and making it real.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-wells/creativity-is-imagining-something-that-isn-t-there-and-making-it-real/) [Spencer Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-wells/) > [Imagine you're copying a very long document, and occasionally you'll put an A where there should be a C. And that mistake has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-wells/imagine-you-re-copying-a-very-long-document-and-occasionally-you-ll/) [Spencer Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-wells/) > [“The biggest revolution of the past 50,000 years of human history was not the advent of the Internet, the growth of the industrial age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-wells/the-biggest-revolution-of-the-past-50-000-years-of-human-history-was/) [Spencer Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-wells/) > [We are all Africans under the skin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-wells/we-are-all-africans-under-the-skin/) [Spencer Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-wells/) > [Every drop of human blood contains a history book written in the language of our genes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-wells/every-drop-of-human-blood-contains-a-history-book-written-in-the/) [Spencer Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-wells/) > [If you go far enough back, your genome connects you with bacteria, butterflies, and barracuda - the great chain of being linked together through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-wells/if-you-go-far-enough-back-your-genome-connects-you-with-bacteria/) [Spencer Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-wells/) > [Many of the crises we see in the 21st century, I would argue, have their roots in the dawn of the Neolithic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-wells/many-of-the-crises-we-see-in-the-21st-century-i-would-argue-have/) [Spencer Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-wells/) > [What if I told you every single person in America - every single person on Earth - is African? With a small scrape of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-wells/what-if-i-told-you-every-single-person-in-america-every-single-person/) [Spencer Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-wells/) > [Taken with the archaeological data, we can say that the old hypothesis of an invasion of people - not merely their language - from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-wells/taken-with-the-archaeological-data-we-can-say-that-the-old-hypothesis/) [Spencer Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-wells/) > [The greatest history book ever written is the one hidden in our DNA.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-wells/the-greatest-history-book-ever-written-is-the-one-hidden-in-our-dna/) [Spencer Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-wells/) > [ So what we can answer \[as geneticists\] is questions about biology, about biological ancestry. But to make any sense of that historically we have… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-wells/so-what-we-can-answer-as-geneticists-is-questions-about-biology-about/) [Spencer Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-wells/) [Explore all 14 Spencer Wells quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-wells/) ## More Ancestry quotes > [It is worthwhile for anyone to have behind him a few generations of honest, hard-working ancestry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-worthwhile-for-anyone-to-have-behind-him-a-few-generations-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Blood is a destiny. One's genius descends in the stream from long lines of ancestry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/blood-is-a-destiny-one-s-genius-descends-in-the-stream-from-long/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [My life shall be free and broad and great, and I will not be the slave to the sense delights which chained my ancient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/my-life-shall-be-free-and-broad-and-great-and-i-will-not-be-the-slave/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) > [High birth is an accident, not a virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pietro-metastasio/high-birth-is-an-accident-not-a-virtue/) [Pietro Metastasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pietro-metastasio/) > [Being a mixed-blood person of Ojibway and European ancestry, I always found that I only heard one side of the story - that was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-boyden/being-a-mixed-blood-person-of-ojibway-and-european-ancestry-i-always/) [Joseph Boyden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-boyden/) > [Bird taxonomy is a difficult field because of the severe anatomical constraints imposed by flight. There are only so many ways to design a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/bird-taxonomy-is-a-difficult-field-because-of-the-severe-anatomical/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [I've got German, Cornish and Scottish ancestry. It might help explain my affinity for forests, the sea, and fatty foods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyle-maclachlan/i-ve-got-german-cornish-and-scottish-ancestry-it-might-help-explain/) [Kyle MacLachlan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyle-maclachlan/) > [“I have always found it difficult not to be moved by Jerusalem, even when I hated it—and God knows I have hated it for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-abulhawa/i-have-always-found-it-difficult-not-to-be-moved-by-jerusalem-even/) [Susan Abulhawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-abulhawa/) > [I've never felt grounded because of my ancestry or my gender. I think until women get away from that they're not going to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/i-ve-never-felt-grounded-because-of-my-ancestry-or-my-gender-i-think/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [I get anxious. That lovely Jewish guilt that comes with ancestry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-rudolph/i-get-anxious-that-lovely-jewish-guilt-that-comes-with-ancestry/) [Maya Rudolph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-rudolph/) > [The function of the artist is to disturb. His duty is to arouse the sleeper, to shake the complacent pillars of the world. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-bethune/the-function-of-the-artist-is-to-disturb-his-duty-is-to-arouse-the/) Norman Bethune > [Both the ancestry and posterity of Grief go further than the ancestry and posterity of Joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/both-the-ancestry-and-posterity-of-grief-go-further-than-the-ancestry/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [I wasn't trying to work out my own ancestry. I was trying to get people to feel slavery. I was trying to get across…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-wasn-t-trying-to-work-out-my-own-ancestry-i-was-trying-to-get/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Ancestry is not destiny,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-weiner/ancestry-is-not-destiny/) [Eric Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-weiner/) > […Even the idea of a city never entered his mind. It was as if he had walked under the millimeter of haze just above…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/even-the-idea-of-a-city-never-entered-his-mind-it-was-as-if-he-had/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) [Browse all 256 Ancestry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancestry/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "DNA ties us all together; we share ancestry with barracuda and bacteria and mushrooms, if you go far enough back.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Spencer Wells" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-wells/dna-ties-us-all-together-we-share-ancestry-with-barracuda-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ancestry" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-wells/dna-ties-us-all-together-we-share-ancestry-with-barracuda-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb9/spencer-wells-33666_ancestry_dna-ties-us-all-together-we-share-ancest_686436.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb9/spencer-wells-33666_ancestry_dna-ties-us-all-together-we-share-ancest_686436.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb9/spencer-wells-33666_ancestry_dna-ties-us-all-together-we-share-ancest_686436.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“DNA ties us all together; we share ancestry with barracuda and bacteria and mushrooms, if you go far enough…” — Spencer Wells", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Spencer Wells", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-wells/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "DNA ties us all together; we...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-wells/dna-ties-us-all-together-we-share-ancestry-with-barracuda-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-wells/dna-ties-us-all-together-we-share-ancestry-with-barracuda-and/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```