Mapping Human History: Genes, Race, and Our Common Origins
by Steve Olson
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Book Summary Information
Author: Steve OlsonEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2003-04-01
ISBN: 0618352104
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Mariner Books
Book Reviews of Mapping Human History: Genes, Race, and Our Common Origins
Book Review: Misleading account
Summary: 2 Stars
"No significant difference was found in genes belong to different races"
Olson seems to subordinate science for political reasons. That's fair enough, but it doesn't make him correct. For instance, saying there is no difference in genes is misleading. In terms of mtDNA, there is greater difference between dogs, wolves, and coyotes, than there is between ethnic groups of human beings. Geneticists measure genetic diversity within a species by determining the average heterozygosity of the species' genome, or the likelihood of its having more than one variant of any given gene. Humans have an average heterozygosity of around 0.7, whereas dogs' is about 0.4.
Also consider the paper 'Global landscape of recent inferred Darwinian
selection for Homo sapiens' by Eric T. Wang*, Greg Kodama, Pierre Baldi, and Robert K. Moyzis.
This analysis suggested that around 1800 genes, or roughly 7% of the total in the human genome, have changed under the influence of natural selection within the past 50,000 years. We only have a vague idea what most of these 1,800 genes do. It will take years to figure out the uses of each one, so Olson is premature in his comments. (the Gene Expression site provides a pretty up to date account on genetic findings).
There is overlap between groups and you have to account for environmental factors, but Olson seems more intent on whitewashing the whole area rather than presenting a balanced account.
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