The incredible journey taken by our genes

forwarded for 
Robert Blau <[email protected]>

Not to be confused with "The incredible journey taken by our jeans" [as
in "The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants"] . . .

The incredible journey taken by our genes The Guardian [UK], August 31
2008

Sixty thousand years ago, a small group of African men and women took to
the Red Sea in tiny boats and crossed the Mandab Strait to Asia. Their
journey - of less than 20 miles - marked the moment Homo sapiens left
its home continent. The motive for our ancestors' African exodus is not
known, though scientists suspect food shortages, triggered by climate
change, were involved. However, its impact cannot be overestimated. Two
thousand generations later, descendants of these African emigres have
settled our entire planet, wiped out all other hominids including the
Neanderthals and have reached a population of 6.5 billion. Now
scientists are completing a massive study of DNA samples from a quarter
of a million volunteers in different continents in order to create the
most precise map yet of mankind's great diaspora.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/aug/31/genetics

ALSO see articles about this journey out of Africa at 
http://inyourface.info/crypt/