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Human Journey
MARCH 2006
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In Learn More the National Geographic magazine team shares some of its best sources and other information to expand your knowledge of our featured subjects. Special thanks to the Research Division.
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 Did You Know?
Scientists who trace modern human origins often talk about a special kind of DNA, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). But do you know what mitochondrial DNA is? And do you know what mitochondria do? Mitochondria are tiny structures found within the cell that resemble grains of rice. They produce the energy that cells need to function, and they have their own small complement of DNA, containing just 37 genes in humans. Compare this to the human nuclear genome (the entire set of genetic instructions found within the nuclei of all the cells), which contains some 30,000 genes. But mitochondrial DNA is especially powerful for studying the ancestry of modern humans. While the nuclear genome is reshuffled with each new generation as the father's and mother's DNA recombine, mitochondrial DNA is passed directly from a mother to her children. As a result it preserves patterns of ancient markers that thelp scientists map the path modern humans have taken around the world.
—Alice J. Dunn
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Bibliography
Bowler, James M., and others. "New Ages for Human Occupation and Climatic Change at Lake Mungo, Australia." Nature (February 2003), 837-40.
Cann, Rebecca L., Mark Stoneking, and Allan C.Wilson. "Mitochondrial DNA and Human Evolution." Nature (January 1987), 31-36.
DeSalle, Rob, and Michael Yudell. Welcome to the Genome: A User's Guide to the Genetic Past, Present, and Future. Wiley-Liss, 2005.
Forster, Peter. "Ice Ages and the Mitochondrial DNA Chronology of Human Dispersals: A Review." The Royal Society (January 2004), 255-64.
Forster, Peter, and Shuichi Matsumura. "Did Early Humans Go North or South?" Science (May 2005), 965-66.
Jurmain, Robert, Lynn Kilgore, and Wenda Trevathan. Introduction to Physical Anthropology, tenth edition. Thomson Wadsworth, 2005.
Knight, Alec, and others. "African Y Chromosome and mtDNA Divergence Procides Insight into the History of Click Languages." Current Biology (18 March 2003), 464-73.
Macaulay, Vincent, and others. "Single, Rapid Coastal Settlement of Asia Revealed by Analysis of Complete Mitochondrial Genomes." Science (May 2005), 1034-36.
Oppenheimer, Stephen. The Real Eve: Modern Man's Journey Out of Africa. Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2003.
Thangaraj, Kumarasamy. "Reconstructing the Origin of Andaman Islanders." Science (13 May 2005), 996.
Watson, James D. DNA: The Secret of Life. Alfred A. Knopf, 2003.
Wells, Spencer. The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey. Princeton University Press, 2002.
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NGS Resources
Halpern, Monica. Moving North: African Americans and the Great Migration 1915-1930. National Geographic Books, 2006.
Webster, Donovan. "Footsteps of My Ancestors." National Geographic Traveler (October 2005), 66-80.
Morwood, Mike and Thomas Sutikna and Richard Roberts. "The People That Time Forgot." National Geographic (April 2005).
Fischman, Josh. "Family Ties: Dmanisi Find." National Geographic (April 2005).
Gore, Rick. "Who Were the Phoenicians?" National Geographic (October 2004), 26-49.
Gore, Rick. "Georgian Skull." National Geographic (August 2002).
Gore, Rick. "The Dawn of Humans: Who Were the First Americans?" National Geographic (December 2000), 40-67.
Gore, Rick. "The Dawn of Humans: People Like Us." National Geographic (July 2000), 90-117.
Keyser, Andre. "The Dawn of Humans: New Finds in South Africa." National Geographic (May 2000), 76-83.
Berger, Lee R. In the Footsteps of Eve: The Mystery of Human Origins. National Geographic Books, 2000.
Berger, Lee. "The Dawn of Humans: Redrawing Our Family Tree." National Geographic (August 1998), 90-9.
Gore, Rick. "The Most Ancient Americans." National Geographic (October 1997), 92-9.
Gore, Rick. "The Dawn of Humans: Tracking the First of Our Kind." National Geographic (September 1997), 92-9.
Gore, Rick. "The Dawn of Humans: The First Europeans." National Geographic (July 1997), 96-113.
Gore, Rick. "The Dawn of Humans: Expanding Worlds." National Geographic (May 1997), 84-109.
Gore, Rick. "The Dawn of Humans: The First Steps." National Geographic (February 1997), 72-99.
Johanson, Donald C. "The Dawn of Humans: Face-to-Face with Lucy's Family." National Geographic (March 1996), 96-117.
Gore, Rick. "The Dawn of Humans: Neanderthals." National Geographic (January 1996), 2-35.
Leakey, Meave. "The Dawn of Humans: The Farthest Horizon." National Geographic (September 1995), 38-51.
Weaver, Kenneth. "The Search for Our Ancestors: Stones, Bones, and Early Man." National Geographic (November 1985), 560-623.
Green, Michael. "Adventure in Indonesia." National Geographic World (January 1984), 3-9.
Morton, W. Brown. "Indonesia Rescues Ancient Borobudur." National Geographic (January 1983), 126-42.
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