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How Does DNA Link You With Your Ancestors?

It is helpful to think of DNA and the genetic information it contains as being similar to the source code of a computer program. Our programming, our DNA, defines a great deal of who we are, and that DNA is passed down to us from our parents, who got it from their parents, and all the way back to ancestors of ours that lived millions of years ago.

Darwin and Evolution
- Charles Darwin, along with A. R. Wallace, are credited with the discovery of the mechanism by which we inherit traits from our ancestors, which is called evolution. DNA, and the genetic information that it contains, is passed down from parents to offspring. The DNA of the parents combines and, along with some mutation, a new and unique combination of DNA is created. This elegant process of genetic inheritance is how we are linked to our ancestors.
Genes
- Shortly after the discoveries of Darwin and Wallace, Gregor Mendel, in the early 1860s, developed the concept of the gene, which explained the results of cross-breeding experiments he had done with pea plants. This concept of genes, it turned out, was the mechanism which allowed evolution to take place. It allowed for offspring to inherit the traits of both parents, which linked each generation to the next and provided a mechanism for gradual change within a species to adapt to changing environments and needs.
Our Genetic Relatives
- There is very little difference, genetically, between you and your parents, which are your closest ancestors. If you follow the human evolutionary chain back millions of years, there are distinct physical differences between those ancient ancestors and humans today, but genetically, the similarities are remarkable. Even between us and our genetic relatives, the chimpanzees, there is a similarity of 98.4 percent in the DNA of the two species. Evolution happens very slowly, and the remarkable similarities in the DNA of us and our ancient ancestors is one of the strongest links humans have to that past.
DNA Comparisons
- Innovative technologies have allowed scientists to understand DNA and infer a great deal about our past and our ancestors from that information. It was discovered from examining DNA, for instance, that the ancestors of the human race once numbered as few as 2,000, roughly 150,000 years ago in Africa, meaning that the human race came perilously close to becoming extinct. DNA contains a great deal of information about both you and your ancestors.

Animals & Science