THE GENE ODYSSEY by Evelyne Heyer

Originally translated from French “L'Odyssée des gènes”, the author shares in this read the history of humanity and our genetic evolution.

Thanks to the precision given by the latest tools in genetic field, we now know, according to Heyer, that the oldest DNA sequence studied to date dates back 400,000 years. It was extracted from human remains found at Sima de los Huesos, in northern Spain.

The researchers were thus able to estimate at 5 to 6 million years the number of years since the divergence between the man and the chimpanzee.

It’s truly fascinating to imagine how Homo Sapiens left Africa around 70,000 years ago and migrated to Eurasia at a rate of 3km per generation. During this great journey there were encounters with other human species that have since disappeared, such as Nénadertal in the Near East and Denisova's Man in Central Asia. However, these migrations contributed a lot to our genetic diversity and it's an important part of the reason why we've survived as a species.

Heyer also explains how as the breeding of animals develops, a mutation in the genes will appear which will allow better digestion of lactose. Also, the fair skin, will ultimately be an adaptation to the cold and less sunny climate.

Loads of interesting findings such as the one that shows we share 99.8% of our genome with the Neanderthal.

It puts things into perspective in an accessible way for everybody, I do recommend it if curious about this subject.