Human Evolution
Genes, Genealogies and Phylogenies

Brings together new research demonstrating how evidence based on genetic phenomena should end any lingering controversy over human evolution.

Graeme Finlay (Author)

9781107040120, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 12 September 2013

368 pages, 101 b/w illus. 11 tables
23.5 x 15.7 x 2.4 cm, 0.66 kg

'Graeme Finlay succeeds marvellously at that most difficult of challenges in scientific writing: to captivate and animate the reader without blurring detail - and the details are fascinating. From viral insertions, to jumping genes and 'fossil' DNA, the new ability to read the human genome, including his perspective as a cancer specialist and committed Christian, is Finlay's gift to us. I came away from the book with a new respect for our connection to animal cousins on the tree of life, yet a renewed appreciation of the special privilege and responsibility of being human.' Tom McLeish, University of York, UK

Controversy over human evolution remains widespread. However, the human genome project and genetic sequencing of many other species have provided myriad precise and unambiguous genetic markers that establish our evolutionary relationships with other mammals. Human Evolution: Genes, Genealogies and Phylogenies identifies and explains these identifiable, rare and complex markers including endogenous retroviruses, genome-modifying transposable elements, gene-disabling mutations, segmental duplications and gene-enabling mutations. The new genetic tools also provide fascinating insights into when and how many features of human biology arose: from aspects of placental structure, vitamin C dependence and trichromatic vision, to tendencies to gout, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Bringing together a decade's worth of research and tying it together to provide an overwhelming argument for the mammalian ancestry of the human species, the book will be of interest to professional scientists and students in both the biological and biomedical sciences.

Preface
Prologue
1. Retroviral genealogy
2. Jumping genealogy
3. Pseudogenealogy
4. The origins of new genes
Epilogue: what really makes us human
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Human biology [PSX], Evolution [PSAJ], Biology, life sciences [PS], Medical genetics [MFN], Medicine [M]