2 RESULTS OF SCIENCE CAN BE USED IN TWO WAYS :

HUMAN IDENTITY: ► GENDER ► RACE ► ANCESTRAL ORIGINS ► LANGUAGE ► NATIONALITY ► OCCUPATION ► RELIGION ► OUR PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE

4 “The role of science in defining personal identity cannot be over emphasized.” “Science transcends national, cultural, or institutional boundaries and thereby is a shared activity of humanity at large.”

DNA TELLS US WHO WE ARE (WE ARE ALL AFRICAN!) HOW KNOWLEDGE OF DNA MAY IMPACT OUR LIVES

DNA : double helix of nucleic acids that are usually the molecular basis of heredity 1944 Origin: deoxyribonucleic acid = DNA Gene : a specific sequence of nucleotides in DNA located usually on a chromosome and that is the functional unit of inheritance of one or more traits Genome: broadly speaking the genetic material of an organism Human Chromosomes: rod-shaped DNA-containing structures in the cell nucleus that contain most of the genes Humans have 23 pairs Of Chromosomes

J. Craig Venter  J. Craig Venter Institute  Biologist (DNA Research)  Human Genome Sequencer  Venter was first to publish the genome of a living species and the first to publish the human genome.  Venter was the first to create synthetic bacteria with DNA designed on a computer.  “DNA is the software of life”

Dr. Christopher diCarlo Ph.D. in Philosophy, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada "WE ARE ALL AFRICAN! Can scientific proof of our commonality save us?” [By reducing divisive identity differences]

10 Fossils, climate, and artifacts indicate that we all descended from a small group of homo sapiens living in central-eastern Africa. DNA evidence from living humans is even more compelling that we are all African.

using “Y” chromosome of metaphorical “Adam”

Marvin Hilton’s Haplogroup: I2a (P37.2)

HOMO HOMO HOMO FLORESIENSIS NEADERTHALENSIS SAPIENS As recently as 30,000 years ago, we lived with two other hominins on this planet.

 DNA from Neanderthal bone fragments show evidence that Humans and Neanderthals interbred.  Neanderthal and Modern Human DNA is 99.7% identical.  4 % of Asians’ and Europeans’ DNA may be from Neanderthal ancestors.

Sahelanthropus Modern Tchadensis Chimpanzee Latest estimate: 6 to 7 million years ago Sahelanthropus tchadensis marked the point when our ancestors and Chimpanzee ancestors split from a common lineage. Modern Chimpanzee DNA is 98.8% Identical to modern human DNA.

Richard Dawkins  Evolutionary Biologist  Author  Pioneer in Phenotypes  Oxford University Professor for public Understanding of science “Chimeras of human and mouse cells are now constructed in the laboratory as a matter of course.” “What if we were to fashion a chimera of 50% human and 50% chimpanzee cells and grow it to adulthood? That would change everything.”

Marcus Wohlsen Associated Press Reporter San Franscisco “…tinkerers and hobbyists …will soon be able to perform sophisticated feats of genetic engineering at home.” “Their goal: to make a creature that no one has ever quite seen before in nature. Also, to make a creature cooler than anyone else’s.” “The plummeting price for sequencing DNA has long fueled predictions that everyone’s medical record will soon include a copy of his or her genome.”

Andrew Hessel Singularity University Chair Biotechnology & Bioinformatics “The question is not so much as to how to engineer [life] but what to engineer.”

Misha Angrist Assistant Professor Duke University Genome Sciences and Policy We can use the contents of people’s genomes to administer better and more accurate health care.

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