‘Gene mix led to modern humans’

Johannesburg - A genomic study by international researchers has found that modern humans may not have emerged from a single place in Africa as previously thought.

The researchers studied 2.3 million variable positions in the DNA of 220 individuals from southern Africa – the largest genomic study ever conducted on the Khoisan.

They found the Khoisan split from the line of modern humans about 100 000 years ago, well before the out-of-Africa migration.

“There was a subsequent split within the Khoisan 35 000 years ago,” said lead author Carina Schlebusch from Wits University. “There is not one place that is the origin of modern humans. We believe there was gene-flow between different populations.”

Schlebusch said the whole of Africa should be considered the place of origin of modern humans. They had found genetic relationships in Khoisan groups in northern Namibia, Angola and groups in SA.

She said there was a lot of ethnic diversity in the Khoisan group, and through DNA analysis they could see aspects of their history, which gave rise to the diversity.

The research paper was published on Thursday in the journal Science. 

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