https://jphysiolanthropol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40101-024-00382-3
Human dispersal into East Eurasia: ancient
genome insights and the need for research
on physiological adaptations
Abstract
Humans have long pondered their genesis. The
answer to the great question of where Homo
sapiens come from has evolved in conjunction
with biotechnologies that have allowed us to
more brightly illuminate our distant past.
The “Multiregional Evolution” model was once
the hegemonic theory of Homo sapiens origins,
but in the last 30 years, it has been
supplanted by the “Out of Africa” model.
Here, we review the major findings that have
resulted in this paradigmatic shift. These
include hominin brain expansion, classical
insight from the mitochondrial genome (mtDNA)
regarding the timing of the divergence point
between Africans and non-Africans, and
next-generation sequencing (NGS) of the
Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes. These
findings largely bolstered the “Out of Africa”
model, although they also revealed a small
degree of introgression of the Neanderthal
and Denisovan genomes into those of
non-African Homo sapiens. We also review
paleogenomic studies for which migration
route, north or south, early migrants to East
Eurasia most likely traversed. Whichever route
was taken, the migrants moved to higher
latitudes, which necessitated adaptation for
lower light conditions, colder clines, and
pro-adipogenic mechanisms to counteract food
scarcity. Further genetic and epigenetic
investigations of these physiological
adaptations constitute an integral aspect of
the story of human origins and human migration
to East Asia.
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