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posted by martyb on Thursday January 17 2019, @03:29PM   Printer-friendly
from the it's-all-in-the-family dept.

Artificial intelligence applied to the genome identifies an unknown human ancestor

By combining deep learning algorithms and statistical methods, investigators from the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE), the Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (CNAG-CRG) of the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) and the Institute of Genomics at the University of Tartu have identified, in the genome of Asiatic individuals, the footprint of a new hominid who cross bred with its ancestors tens of thousands of years ago.

Modern human DNA computational analysis suggests that the extinct species was a hybrid of Neanderthals and Denisovans and cross bred with Out of Africa modern humans in Asia. This finding would explain that the hybrid found this summer in the caves of Denisova–the offspring of a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father–, was not an isolated case, but rather was part of a more general introgression process.

The study, published in Nature Communications [open, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-08089-7] [DX], uses deep learning for the first time ever to account for human evolution, paving the way for the application of this technology in other questions in biology, genomics and evolution.


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  • (Score: 2) by Revek on Thursday January 17 2019, @04:52PM (1 child)

    by Revek (5022) on Thursday January 17 2019, @04:52PM (#787931)

    We will screw anyone.

    --
    This page was generated by a Swarm of Roaming Elephants
    • (Score: 2) by rts008 on Thursday January 17 2019, @05:26PM

      by rts008 (3001) on Thursday January 17 2019, @05:26PM (#787946)

      Good that chimeras are difficult to create in labs, otherwise this planet would be overrun with them! ;-)

  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Thursday January 17 2019, @06:03PM (4 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday January 17 2019, @06:03PM (#787960) Journal

    Humans originated in Africa. Some humans migrated to Europe, where they interbred with Neanderthal, and mutated into something-not-quite-human. Some other humans migrated to Asia, where they interbred with Neanderthals, as well as Denisovans. Again, no-longer-quite-human. Something different, at the least.

    So, uhhhh, where does that leave us? Only Africans are truly human? Interesting idea . . .

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 17 2019, @07:03PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 17 2019, @07:03PM (#787987)

      Or, Denisovians and Neanderthals should be considered varieties of human rather than separate species?

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by hendrikboom on Friday January 18 2019, @12:05AM

        by hendrikboom (1125) Subscriber Badge on Friday January 18 2019, @12:05AM (#788080) Homepage Journal

        Yes.

        They were considered separate species until they discovered the interbreeding and the terminology stuck long after. Just like we still talk of the Theory of Gravity to the point we're starting to redefine the word "Theory".

        For some reason we didn't see fit to extend the same tolerance to the planet Pluto.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 17 2019, @08:05PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 17 2019, @08:05PM (#788010)

      Yep,your great (to 150000 times) grandma was a big black bitch.

      • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday January 17 2019, @10:06PM

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday January 17 2019, @10:06PM (#788042) Journal

        Maybe YOUR grandma. How many feet do you walk on? Do you wag your tail? All my grannies were sweet old ladies, whatever color they may have been.

  • (Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 17 2019, @07:35PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 17 2019, @07:35PM (#788002)
    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday January 17 2019, @10:13PM (3 children)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday January 17 2019, @10:13PM (#788045) Journal

      Nice link.

      This video from the American Museum of Natural History tracks scientists’ current best guess

      You just don't hear very many statements so very honest. Educated guesses, yes, but guesses all the same. We need some other disciplines to be just as honest - like the climate change people, for instance. I want to hear them say, "These are our best guesses. We may make discoveries next week that blow our guesses out of the water, but these are our best guesses at this time." If they would stop insisting that they KNOW what they are talking about, they would probably become more convincing.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 17 2019, @11:33PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 17 2019, @11:33PM (#788076)

        "We guess that the earth will heat by 5 degrees if you don't buy carbon credits from Al Gore"... yeah that's more convincing.

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by lentilla on Friday January 18 2019, @01:05AM (1 child)

        by lentilla (1770) on Friday January 18 2019, @01:05AM (#788095)

        Educated guesses, yes, but guesses all the same. We need some other disciplines to be just as honest

        Ah yes - a curse of human nature - mistaking confidence for knowledge.

        When I was a younger I used to hedge my pronouncements (for example: "... at room temperature" or "my experiments indicate that ..."). As a result a people often ignored what I was saying.

        Today I simply make pronouncements with utter conviction: "dolphins are fish" I will say. (I'd be wrong, btw...) This way, most people nod their heads in agreement because I appear confident and thus it follows that I know what I am talking about. It's not too great a sin - if somebody actually knows more about a topic than me they are welcome to correct me.

        I believe this is why "talking heads" talk in absolutes and with conviction - because if they show doubt (such as by saying things like "we believe ...") then people will (often mistakenly) assume they don't know what they are talking about and subsequently discount their opinion and expertise.

        • (Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Friday January 18 2019, @04:44AM

          by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Friday January 18 2019, @04:44AM (#788141) Homepage Journal

          You're a confidence man. Or confidence person. That's terrific -- very smart. Because confidence can take you very far in life. And so many times, when we're confident about something, it comes true. I was very confident about Bart. And he didn't let me down. He's on SC and writing Majority Opinions!

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 17 2019, @11:04PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 17 2019, @11:04PM (#788062)

    Must have been a fearsome looking creature... five feet tall with four foot long canine teeth. Or were those chopsticks?

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