Anthropology studies the origin and development of human species. Out of the 4 subcategories of anthropology I wanted to focus on the Molecular Anthropology. This kind of anthropology focuses on the tools and techniques of molecular genetics to answer anthropology questions. The main focus is analyzing DNA and similarities with patterns of migration and the comparisons between living and non living things. Another focus is the fundamental postulate of molecular anthropology is that closer genetic similarity indicates a more recent common ancestry. Its shows how the anthropologist have to go a lot deeper into ones history to figure out full details about them individually. We learn that the data are combined with information from fossils, archaeological excavations, linguistics, and other sources. Sometimes the data from these different sources conflict, however, and much of the controversy in anthropology centers around how much weight to give each when this occurs. This topic become more interesting because we are learning the depth of the work that is done to get to concrete evidence of the anthropologist findings.
We get to focus on the advantages of DNA comparisons as well. Environmental factors can shape the phenotype to make two individuals with the same genetic makeup look different. For instance, nutrition has a profound effect on height, and if we used average height to classify humans, we might mistakenly conclude that medieval humans represented a different sub-species because they were significantly shorter than modern humans. DNA comparisons, on the other hand, would show no significant difference between these groups. Another advantage is that DNA sequence differences can be easily quantified—two base changes in a gene are more different than one. Despite being random events, mutations occur at a fairly steady rate, constituting a “molecular clock,” and so the number of differences can be use to estimate the time since the two organisms shared a common ancestor. Finally, since all organisms contain DNA, the sequences of any two organisms can be compared. The same techniques used in molecular anthropology can also be applied to evolutionary questions in other species, to determine the evolutionary relations between different animal species, for instance, or even between bacteria and humans.
Source: https://medicine.jrank.org/pages/2550/Molecular-Anthropology.html
I found your post on Molecular Anthropology to be very interesting and insightful. I like how you discuss various ways in which anthropologists can better understand their findings. For instance by using an interdisciplinary approach within the sub field of molecular anthropology, anthropologists can better understand biomolecules from extant, forensic, historical, archaeological, and environmental materials to explore evolutionary links between populations overtime. I also found it interesting that you discussed the importance of diet and how nutrition can alter the genetic makeup and physical attributes of a species. For instance, anthropologists can compare molars and teeth structure and predict what types of foods the species ate. This knowledge can help predict what environment the species were living in and can help predict a better timeline as well. I also like your input on the importance of DNA and the crucial role that this information provides for predicting common ancestors.
I didn’t realize molecular analysis was even a subsection of anthropology, but after reading your post makes a lot of sense why it is! It’s so important to understand the ancestry of organisms, and that kind of research plays a large role in the concept of the future of development.
In your post, you mentioned how the environment affects the phenotype, but it would also affect the genotype of the organisms as well. I think anthropologists work to understand this relationship between environmental factors of the population they’re studying and the molecular make-up to ensure there are correct lineages. This of course is mostly by the way you mentioned, of matching DNA similarities and mutations seen in organisms and drawing the conclusions from there. Overall great post with great insight, thanks for sharing!
Hey, this was a very interesting post on Molecular Anthropology. I became most interested when you mentioned that nutrition can effect height. In a way, it is comparable to another post that I just read which talked about how our diets can impact bodies. I have a few thoughts on the example you provided which was that, based on nutrition patterns, we might classify medieval humans as a different sub-species because they were shorter than modern humans. I am just wondering if that would me that medieval humans had a poor nutrition or were malnourished, and that is what caused them to be short; or are modern humans the ones with poorer nutrition. I wonder what factors go into figuring out what about nutrition can cause us to be shorter or taller.
I’ll be honest, I’ve never really understood Molecular Anthropology. I mean, I do understand why it’s important and the vast impact it has had and I’m sure will continue to have on the field, including furthering our understanding of the populating of the Americas. Unfortunately science involving DNA and genetic make-ups has always flown right over my head. I found your post to be very informative and easy to understand, however. I think you did a really good job breaking down and explaining something as complicated as Molecular Anthropology in just a few words and I really appreciate that. I think Molecular Anthropology sounds incredibly interesting and I look forward to studying it even more. I really enjoyed reading your post and thank you for helping me better understand Molecular Anthropology!
Deniqua,
Molecular anthropology is not something I am familiar with or have ever really heard of before. Your post detailing what this subfield of anthropology entails as well as your description of the useful and important applications it has to our understanding of not only ourselves, but our relationship to animals and the environment, and of the world helped me learn the value in this field. With no prior knowledge about molecular anthropology but with an interest in DNA in terms of forensics, I wonder how the two fields could combine. I like that you explain the techniques that can be used in a variety of ways. This was helpful for me to read, and I am glad I was able to learn something new from you! Great post!
Hello! Molecular Anthropology is definitely a new concept to me, (being a bachelors of arts and not having a lot of experience with science) and I think you brought up quite a few important points. Firstly, I think it is useful that you mentioned the connection molecularly between recent fossils and older ones. It is extremely important for us to link these two things and continue building information we already have. If we can fuse the past and the present together, we can predict what kind of organisms will exist in the future. I also liked that you mentioned that environment has an effect here as well. In my mind, it is always important to remember both effects of nature and nurture. Overall, it was very informing to me and I am glad to now know more about this topic.
Hello,
I enjoyed reading your post and appreciated your insight. I like reading other’s posts because everyone came up with different subfields that I have never heard of before! I have never heard of molecular anthropology so I’m really glad you discussed it in your blog for this week. My blog post was about medical anthropology so it was similar to yours, but yours honestly seems like it’s even of a higher subcategory of medical anthropology. I found your topics very interesting because I find it so intriguing to consider how our ancestors diets are responsible for how we are today. I also find the comparison of two genotypes very interesting. I can’t eait to learn more about molecular anthropology.