Project Genome 2.0

Have you ever wondered what kind of history your genome encompasses? Where your ancestors came from? Who they were? How much of that information is within you? We are told we all come from a common ancestor which was about, give or take 2.3 million years ago when the genus Homo arrived to the scene some where in Africa. For the up coming years to follow they evolved and spread to different parts of the globe, where these species diverged, some going across Africa and others to Europe and Asia.

From there on forward we grew and adapted to our surroundings while branching out to different areas and locations where we developed our various cultures, languages, speech patterns, religions, society, etc.

An on going study called the geographic 2.0 beta project answers these fundamental questions, of where we all originated from ad how we branched off. Genetic and computer analysis are being used to analyze different groups of individuals to understand the variation and root of the human genome. This project is being carried out by Dr. Spencer Wells along with his team of international workers who all work for National Geographic Explorer. Anyone interested in volunteering towards the benefit of this project or just wanting to find out about their own ancestry, then it is as simple as a check swab. Which then that sample looks at 150,000 DNA markers on the mitochondria that are specific towards finding this relevant information about ancestry. Along with the maternal markers, paternal markers are also analyzed. 130,000 markers are also defined as regions of ancestral inheritance.

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