Drawing on genetic and fossil clues, Paabo explores what is known about the origin of modern humans and their relationship to the Neanderthals and describes the fierce debate surrounding the nature of the two species’ interactions. We learn that Neanderthal genes offer a unique window into the lives of our hominin relatives and may hold the key to unlocking the mystery of why humans survived while Neanderthals went extinct.
Beginning with the study of DNA in Egyptian mummies in the early 1980s and culminating in the sequencing of the Neanderthal genome in 2010, Neanderthal Man describes the events, intrigues, failures, and triumphs of these scientifically rich years through the lens of the pioneer and inventor of the field of ancient DNA. Neanderthal Man tells the story of geneticist Svante Paabo’s mission to answer this question, and recounts his ultimately successful efforts to genetically define what makes us different from our Neanderthal cousins. What can we learn from the genomes of our closest evolutionary relatives? And I wanted them to do a better job if they could.” (Feb.Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes As he explains, “Science is far from the objective and impartial search for incontrovertible truths that nonscientists might imagine.” He discusses what it took to build a case tight enough to convince even the most skeptical of colleagues and he goes on to demonstrate that scientific knowledge is cumulative and ever-evolving, explaining why he freely released the entire genome: “I wanted everyone to be able to check every detail of what we had done. But it’s his discussion of the scientific process that steals the show.
In accessible prose, Pääbo presents the science so that laypersons will understand the nature and import of his work. Readers will despair with him over technical setbacks, agonize over possible methodological complications, and celebrate his final success. Pääbo passionately chronicles his personal story, from graduate school through the culmination of the Neanderthal project 30 years later, and the scientific implications of this exciting research. For the first time, the genome of an extinct form of human, a Neanderthal, was sequenced and offered to the world.
In 2010, Pääbo, the head of a team of more than 50 collaborators, published a landmark scientific paper that changed the way we think about human evolution.
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