🧬 Modern humans are mix of many ancestors
New research is challenging old ideas about human evolution by showing gene flow between ancient populations. These groups included African modern humans, Neanderthals in Europe/West Asia, and Denisovans in East Asia. Data points to distinct populations remaining in one species, evidenced by genetic markers in our modern genome. The old model pictured evolution as a single tree branching out from Africa only. Now, we know multiple distinct populations contributed to the modern human DNA. 🧬