Human Evolution Genes, Genealogies and Phylogenies

Controversy over human evolution remains widespread. However, the human genome project and genetic sequencing of many other species have provided myriad precise and unambiguous genetic markers that establish our evolutionary relationships with other mammals. Human Evolution: Genes, Genealogies and Phylogenies identifies and explains these identifiable, rare and complex markers including endogenous retroviruses, genome-modifying transposable elements, gene-disabling mutations, segmental duplications and gene-enabling mutations. The new genetic tools also provide fascinating insights into when and how many features of human biology arose: from aspects of placental structure, vitamin C dependence and trichromatic vision, to tendencies to gout, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Bringing together a decade's worth of research and tying it together to provide an overwhelming argument for the mammalian ancestry of the human species, the book will be of interest to professional scientists and students in both the biological and biomedical sciences.

Preface; Prologue; 1. Retroviral genealogy; 2. Jumping genealogy; 3. Pseudogenealogy; 4. The origins of new genes; Epilogue: what really makes us human; References; Index.

Graeme Finlay is Senior Lecturer in Scientific Pathology at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Pathology, and Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre, University of Auckland, New Zealand.