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Controversies in Science/Was there a mitochondrial Eve?/Genomics refutes an exclusively African origin of humans.

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(Review Paper) Cited in Controversies in Science/Was there a mitochondrial Eve?/Genomics refutes an exclusively African origin of humans.

Points Made

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The Monte Carlo simulation shows that the current data has been misinterpreted because the sample size is so small. Mitochondrial DNA can be interpreted and limited just to Africa, however, based under the assumption that there are multi-regions the Monte Carlo simulation shows that this theory is flawed[1]

Methods

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The method used is called the Monte Carlo model which is a computer simulation dispersing individuals. The simulation showed individuals moving at the pace of a parent and child walking together which worked out to 320 km2/generation. There were a total of 101 locations Locations are spaced 115 km apart and distance was approximately 11,500 km, roughly the distance from Ethiopia to China. Each location comprises 100 individuals which simulated the population size to 10,100 individuals. This is the common estimate of the long-term effective population size of humans.

All individuals are represented by a genome. Individuals are divided into three characterized groups such as "modern", "archaic" and "hypbrid." The group they are placed in depends on whether or not they have each of or a combination of alleles in the C genotypal loci.

Results

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Based on this simulation the nulear genome disproves the “Recent Africa Origin” theory because it shows how mtDNA can occur in a multiregional world. This simulation concludes that 80% of homo sapiens nuclear loci (taken from all around the world) have DNA from non-African archaic humans [1].

References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 Eswaran, V., Harpending, H., & Rogers, A. (2005). Genomics refutes an exclusively African origin of humans Journal of Human Evolution, 49(1), 1-18. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248405000357