earliest years of our species are lost to time

#Earliest years of our species are lost to time windows#

Specifically, they used ExPecto, a deep learning tool that uses a convolutional network-a type of computational model-to predict gene expression levels and function from a DNA sequence.

#Earliest years of our species are lost to time windows#

Once they had this estimation, they applied a machine learning tool to predict which genes have changed the most in certain time windows and which tissues these genes may have impacted. The methodology used in the study was based on a Genealogical Estimation of Variant Age method, developed by researchers at the University of Oxford. 'Our results,' the researcher continues, 'offer a picture of how our genetics changed, which fits this idea, as we found no evidence of evolutionary changes that depended on one or a several key mutations,' he says.Īpplication of machine learning techniques That's why we say that human beings have lived a mosaic evolution,' he notes. Even within Homo sapiens there are fossils, such as the ones I mentioned earlier from Jebel Irhoud, which, because of their features, were thought to belong to another species.

'The breadth of the range of human diversity in the past has surprised anthropologists. These results complement an idea that is dominant in evolutionary anthropology: that there is no linear history of human species, but that different branches of our evolutionary tree coexisted and often intersected. Supporting the mosaic nature of the evolution of Homo sapiens 'We found that brain tissues have a particular genomic expression profile at different times in our history that is, certain genes related to neural development were more highly expressed at certain times,' says the researcher. Specifically, they dated variants which medical studies conducted in present-day humans have linked to the volume of the cerebellum, corpus callosum and other structures. The researchers also analyzed variants related to the brain, the organ that can best help explain key features of the rich repertoire of behaviors associated with Homo sapiens. 'We have discovered sets of genetic variants which affect the evolution of the face and which we have dated between 300,000 and 500,000 years ago, the period just prior to the dating of the earliest fossils of our species, such as the ones discovered at the Jebel Irhoud archaeological site in Morocco,' notes Andirkó. Specifically, they highlight the predominance of genetic variants related to behavior and facial structure-key characteristics in the differentiation of our species from other human species-more than 300,000 years ago, a date that coincides with the available fossil and archaeological evidence.

The results of the research study also show differences between evolutionary periods. Predominance of behavioral and facial-related variations The study, led by Cedric Boeckx, ICREA research professor in the section of General Linguistics and member of the Institute of Complex Systems of the UB (UBICS), included the participation of Juan Moriano, UB researcher, Alessandro Vitriolo and Giuseppe Testa, experts from the University of Milan and the European Institute of Oncology, and Martin Kuhlwilm, researcher at the University of Vienna. We have discovered how these variants accumulate over time, reflecting events such as the point of divergence between Homo sapiens and other human species around 100,000 years ago,' says Alejandro Andirkó, first author of this article, which was part of his doctoral thesis at the UB. In this study, we have placed species-specific variants on a timeline. However, it is difficult to determine when the genetic variants that distinguish us from other human species emerged. 'The understanding of the deep history of our species is expanding rapidly. The results, published in the journal Scientific Reports, show two moments in which mutations accumulated: one around 40,000 years ago, associated with the growth of the Homo sapiens population and its departure from Africa, and an older one, more than 100,000 years ago, related to the time of the greatest diversity of types of Homo sapiens in Africa.