The Relationship between Neanderthals and Humans

Have you ever wondered if humans evolved from Neanderthals, or if Neanderthals even existed? Well, the article, “Your inner Neanderthal” by Stephen Ornes is about how scientists have recently studied that many humans have Neanderthals in their genes. Now, scientists are not saying that every human on earth has a Neanderthal descendant, but it is most common in people that live in Europe and Asia. This article also explains how scientists came up with this hypothesis by looking into the genetic information of the Neanderthal bones. This article mainly has to do with genetics and its power to solve and explain the origin of humans.

This article relates to science, for it includes many important science facts, such as DNA, genetics, and “anthropology” which is the study of the origin of humans and their development in many ways. Fortunately, this article is somewhat related to what we are studying in AP Bio now, Ecology. Furthermore, since ecology has to do with the study of relations and interactions of organisms, it is in fact similar to the article which deals with the relationship of Neanderthals and hoe they interacted with others. In other words, this article also included how scientists believe that some Neanderthals interbred with humans in the middle east; therefore, both concepts are alike in many ways. For those who may not know, “interbred” basically means when two different species “mate” with each other to produce offspring that have both of the species’ DNA. Evidently, researchers are concluding and observing what could have been a relationship between modern humans and Neanderthals. In addition, another piece of evidence that could support this theory is that archaeologists have found bones in Europe that have both human and Neanderthal DNA. This is a great and important discovery which can lead to a conclusion to this unsolved mystery of Neanderthals and their existence on Earth.

This information may seem irrelevant and boring at first, but it is actually vital to our lives, for everyone should know their origin and where they came from. I think that this article was in the news because for many years, scientists have been trying to figure out where neanderthals came from and if they actually interacted with humans or evolved into modern humans. This article included many theories that I didn't even think about. It is important for everyone, especially teens pursuing careers in science to learn about the process of retrieving genetic information from skeletons that existed over 2000 years ago.

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/59585/title/FOR_KIDS_Your_inner_Neandertal