Climates Shape our Noses

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/16/science/ancestral-climates-may-have-shaped-your-nose.html

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/16/health/nose-shape-climate-genetics-study/

        The human nose contributes more than just smell to us. The nose is used to humidify and warm the air we breathe as well as help prevent illness and damage in the airways and lungs. No one nose is exactly the same. Everyone has a slightly different nose, although people claim they got their nose from one of their parents. Many people believe that genetics plays a huge role in the shape of the nose. It is believed to be hereditary trait and that parents can envision their child's nose before they are even born. Research done at the University of Pennsylvania have recently discovered that this is not the case.

       New research as shown that human nose shape is effected by the climates in which our ancestor's once lived. Researchers compared nostril widths from different regions around the world and found that they all significantly differed. The widest nostril widths were found in geographical locations where the temperature was high and had high humidity rates. In comparison the narrowest width nostrils were in cold, less humid regions.

      While nose shape is found to be a heritable trait, it is greatly influenced by climate and geographical location one lives in. Further research on the effects of climate and regional location are being conducted to see if they influence other parts of our body.  

Ancestral Climates May Have Shaped Our Noses

 

Our noses have several functions. They warm and humidify the air that we breathe. They prevent illness and damages in the airways and lungs. Because of the ways our noses are shaped, scientists always have suspected that the nose evolved partly due to locate climate conditions. Natural selections favored noses that were better at heating and moisturizing air. 

A study in PLOS Genetics and from a team of scientist from Pennsylvania State University have found evidence between the nose we inherited and the climates in which our ancestors lived. Nostrils that are slightly different are due from the different regions around the world. The higher the temperature and increased humidity, the wider the nostril is. 

This is an important aspect of traits since it is natural selections that shaped our noses. This trait was passed down from one generation to the next. Along with the shape of our noses, skin pigmentation is another aspect that is related. Depending on what part of the world the ancestors were from, the skin pigmentation varies. This is an interesting aspect to bring to genetics since it goes back to ancestors to determine which and what traits evolved in what climate and environment. It also shows how traits such as how big the nostril is can be traced back to a long time ago. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/16/science/ancestral-climates-may-have-shaped-your-nose.html

Scientists find 'oldest human ancestor'

Researchers have recently discovered the earliest known ancestor of humans. They have claimed that this fossil traces back to over 540-million years ago, and was well preserved. This microscopic sea animal is the earliest known to the evolutionary path that led to a fish and eventually to humans. The scientist behind this say that Saccorhytus is believed to be the most primitive of the deuterostome family. Researchers concluded that Saccorhytus was about a millimeter in size, and is believed to have burrowed itself between grains of sand on the sea bed. Saccorhytus was also covered with a thin like, flexible skin and muscles, leading scientist to conclude that it moved by contracting its muscles and making it twist and turn. The researchers say that its most striking feature is its immense mouth, relative to the rest of its body. Scientist say that it probably ate by sucking food particles, or even other small microscopic creatures. 
I believe this is an amazing find for scientist because it is the oldest deuterostome; surpassing the other recently discovered deuterostome, dating about to 520-million years ago. What I found interesting is that the researchers were unable to find any evidence that the animal had an anus, which suggests that it consumed food and excreted from the mouth. As I can see,  this not only gives us understanding into the very first stages of the evolution that led to the fish, but to us. 

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38800987
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature21072.html

Neanderthal DNA in Humans

This article summarizes an interview with John Anthony Capra, an evolutionary genomics professor from Vanderbilt University. He begins by explaining that roughly 1% to 5% of the modern European and Asian genome consists of Neanderthal DNA. It is believed that when the ancestors of modern humans left Africa, they ran into and mated with Neanderthals. The evidence supports this because present day Africans actually don’t have any Neanderthal DNA. In a study done through Vanderbilt University, Neanderthal DNA was shown to have an influence on skin conditions from sun exposure, tobacco addiction, and increased risk of blood clots depression as well. On the positive side, Neanderthal DNA could have helped our prehistoric European ancestors survive unfamiliar “hazards and pathogens”.

Learning about our ancestors is something that I find intriguing so this article really peaked my interest. The modern human is so complex so learning about our ancestors is one way to better understand our species. Studying genetics and analyzing Neanderthal DNA shows us just how “human-like” our ancestors were.

Related link from National Geographic 

DNA GPS

Genes not only give you a key to different traits and disease, they can also tell your hereditary history.  Eran Elhaik from the University of Sheffield has created the Geographical Population Structure algorithm with help from participants from the Genographic Projecy  The way this works, if once you have your DNA sequenced by another company, input the information in the system.  It will then be able to show you where your roots are from.  In addition to showing the evolution of humans, it may also help with medical history.