ALL NON-AFRICANS PART NEANDERTHAL, GENETICS CONFIRM

(A museum reconstruction of a Neanderthal/credit: iStockPhoto)

If your heritage is non-African, you are part Neanderthal, according to a new study in the July issue of Molecular Biology and Evolution. Discovery News has been reporting on human/Neanderthal interbreeding for some time now, so this latest research confirms earlier findings.

Damian Labuda of the University of Montreal’s Department of Pediatrics and the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center conducted the study with his colleagues. They determined some of the human X chromosome originates from Neanderthals, but only in people of non-African heritage.

“This confirms recent findings suggesting that the two populations interbred,” Labuda was quoted as saying in a press release. His team believes most, if not all, of the interbreeding took place in the Middle East, while modern humans were migrating out of Africa and spreading to other regions.

The ancestors of Neanderthals left Africa about 400,000 to 800,000 years ago. They evolved over the millennia mostly in what are now France, Spain, Germany and Russia. They went extinct, or were simply absorbed into the modern human population, about 30,000 years ago.

Neanderthals possessed the gene for language and had sophisticated music, art and tool craftsmanship skills, so they must have not been all that unattractive to modern humans at the time.

“In addition, because our methods were totally independent of Neanderthal material, we can also conclude that previous results were not influenced by contaminating artifacts,” Labuda said.

This work goes back to nearly a decade ago, when Labuda and his colleagues identified a piece of DNA, called a haplotype, in the human X chromosome that seemed different. They questioned its origins.

Fast forward to 2010, when the Neanderthal genome was sequenced. The researchers could then compare the haplotype to the Neanderthal genome as well as to the DNA of existing humans. The scientists found that the sequence was present in people across all continents, except for sub-Saharan Africa, and including Australia.

“There is little doubt that this haplotype is present because of mating with our ancestors and Neanderthals,” said Nick Patterson of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University. Patterson did not participate in the latest research. He added, “This is a very nice result, and further analysis may help determine more details.”

David Reich, a Harvard Medical School geneticist, added, “Dr. Labuda and his colleagues were the first to identify a genetic variation in non-Africans that was likely to have come from an archaic population. This was done entirely without the Neanderthal genome sequence, but in light of the Neanderthal sequence, it is now clear that they were absolutely right!”

The modern human/Neanderthal combo likely benefitted our species, enabling it to survive in harsh, cold regions that Neanderthals previously had adapted to.

“Variability is very important for long-term survival of a species,” Labuda concluded. “Every addition to the genome can be enriching.”

A Harare man was so insecure over his wife’s sex life that he sought engage the services of Prophets to check on the number of men the woman had sex with before him.
For that reason, Ladina Muzengeza dragged her husband John Simon to Harare Civil Court where she was seeking a protection order against him. The two are currently on separation and Ladina told the court that her husband is employing the services of Prophets to ‘spiritually take stock of her sex life’.
“John goes to prophets and asks them to tell him how many men I have sleeping with since we are on separation. I am no longer a happy woman because of his actions. He phones at midnight and accuses me of being a prostitute yet I’m not like that,” said Ladina.
Responding to the allegations, John denied ever approaching any prophet intending to know his wife’s sex secrets.
“It’s not true. I never engaged the services of any prophet but she is the one who is abusing me. I once tried to have sex with her before she booted me out of the bed, making me spend the while night ‘starved’, yet I have a wife,” he said.
Ladina further begged for the court to grant her a divorce order. Magistrate Milton Serima, who presided over the case, advised Ladina to look for other courts that deal with such matters. He however then passed a reciprocal protection order and advised the couple to co-exist peacefully.

Dear Heavenly Father,

I thank You for this day.

I thank You for my being able to awake once again, to see, and to hear this morning.

I’m blessed because You are a forgiving God and an understanding God.

You have done so much for me and You continue to bless me.

Please forgive me every day for anything I have done, said or thought that was not pleasing to You, and I ask now for Your forgiveness.

Please keep me safe from all danger and harm.

Help me to start this day with a new attitude and plenty of gratitude.

Let me make the best of each and every day to clear my mind so that I can hear from You.

Please broaden my mind that I can accept all things.

Let me not whine and whimper over things I have no control over.

Let me continue to see sin through Your eyes and acknowledge it as evil.

And when I sin, let me repent, and confess with my mouth my wrongdoing, and receive Your forgiveness.

And when this world closes in on me, let me remember the example of Jesus — to slip away and find a quiet place to pray.

It is the best response when I’m pushed beyond my limits.

Continue to use me to do Your will.

Continue to bless me that I may be a blessing to others.

Keep me strong that I may help the weak.

Keep me uplifted that I may have words of encouragement for others.

I pray for those who are lost and can’t find their way.

I pray for those who are misjudged and misunderstood.

I pray for those who don’t know You intimately.

I pray for those who don’t believe, and I thank you that You are in my heart and that I do believe and have true faith in You.

I believe that You change people and You can change all things.

I pray for all my sisters and brothers, and for each and every family member in their households.

I pray for peace, love, and joy in their homes that they are out of debt and all their needs are met.

I pray that every eye that reads this knows there is no problem, circumstance, or situation greater than You.

Every battle is in Your hands for You to fight.

I pray that these words be received into the hearts of every eye that sees them and every mouth that confesses them willingly.

This is my prayer… and I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, Amen