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News tagged with ancestry

Ubisoft assassin videogame heads for US colonies

Ubisoft on Monday revealed that the next installment to its blockbuster "Assassin's Creed" videogame franchise will be set in the US colonies during the American Revolution.

Technology / Software

created Mar 06, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Genes may travel from plant to plant to fuel evolution: study

The evolution of plants and animals generally has been thought to occur through the passing of genes from parent to offspring and genetic modifications that happen along the way. But evolutionary biologists ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Feb 16, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Not the black sheep of domestic animals

Mapping the ancestry of sheep over the past 11,000 years has revealed that our woolly friends are stars among domestic animals, boasting vast genetic diversity and substantial prospects for continued breeding to further boost ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Feb 07, 2012 | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 0

For certain orchids, relatives more important than pollinators in shaping floral attractants

Bees, bats, and moths all follow their noses in search of food from flowers. Plants that rely on such animals for pollination often produce particular chemical scents that attract specific pollinators. However, ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Oct 26, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Tiny teeth are new mouse species, a rare 'living fossil'

(PhysOrg.com) -- Tiny fossil teeth discovered in Inner Mongolia are a new species of birch mouse, indicating that ancestors of the small rodent are much older than previously reported, according to paleontologist ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created May 24, 2011 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (8) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

Identifying the origin of the fly

(PhysOrg.com) -- Some may think that the mosquito and the house fly are worlds apart when it comes to common ancestry but new research published this week by an international team of scientists puts them much ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Mar 23, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers looking at a rare disease make breakthrough that could benefit everyone

By working with Canadians of French ancestry who suffer a rare genetic disease, researchers have discovered how three genes contribute to abnormal growth, making a breakthrough that will improve our understanding of many ...

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Mar 01, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Native American ancestry linked to greater risk of relapse in young leukemia patients

The first genome-wide study to demonstrate an inherited genetic basis for racial and ethnic disparities in cancer survival linked Native American ancestry with an increased risk of relapse in young leukemia patients. The ...

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Feb 06, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Friendship may have a genetic component

(PhysOrg.com) -- New research suggests groups of friends may have common genetic patterns. Social scientist Professor James Fowler of the University of California, San Diego, came to this conclusion after ...

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Jan 18, 2011 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (14) | comments 6 | with audio podcast report

Rotten experiments help to create picture of our early ancestors

(PhysOrg.com) -- An innovative experiment at the University of Leicester that involved studying rotting fish has helped to create a clearer picture of what our early ancestors would have looked like.

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Oct 12, 2010 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (8) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

No link between genetic ancestry, asthma response in African-Americans

Genetic ancestry has no discernible influence on how African American patients with asthma respond to medication, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study.

Medicine & Health / Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

created Sep 27, 2010 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Genetic ancestry: A new look at racial disparities in head and neck cancer

Head and neck cancer outcomes associated with race may be more closely linked to social and behavioral factors than biological differences, especially for African Americans, according to a new Henry Ford Hospital study.

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Sep 26, 2010 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

Study links African ancestry to high-risk breast cancer

A new study finds that African ancestry is linked to triple-negative breast cancer, a more aggressive type of cancer that has fewer treatment options.

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Jul 22, 2010 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Investigators identify gene associated with kidney disease in African-American population

Kidney disease is a growing public health problem, with approximately half a million individuals in the United States requiring dialysis treatments to replace the function of their failed kidneys. The problem is particularly ...

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Jul 15, 2010 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Genetic ancestry data improve diagnosis in asthma and lung disease

Americans with lung disease may face a far greater level of lung damage than either they or their doctor suspect, depending on their individual genetic heritage, according to a study to be released July 7. The research implications ...

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Jul 07, 2010 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Ancestor

An ancestor is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an ancestor (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent, and so forth).

Two individuals have a genetic relationship if one is the ancestor of the other, or if they share a common ancestor. In evolutionary theory, species which share an evolutionary ancestor are said to be of common descent. However, this concept of ancestry does not apply to some bacteria and other organisms capable of horizontal gene transfer.

Assuming that all of an individual's ancestors are otherwise unrelated to each other, that individual has 2n ancestors in the nth generation before him and a total of about 2g+1 ancestors in the g generations before him. In practice, however, it is clear that the vast majority of ancestors of humans (and indeed any other species) are multiply related (see Pedigree collapse). Consider n = 40: the human species is more than 40 generations old, yet the number 240, approximately 1012 or one trillion, dwarfs the number of humans that have ever lived.

Ignoring the possibility of other inter-relationships (even distant ones) among ancestors, an individual has a total of 2046 ancestors up to the 10th generation, 1024 of which are 10th generation ancestors. With the same assumption, any given person has over a billion 30th generation ancestors (who lived roughly 1000 years ago) and this theoretical number increases past the estimated total population of the world in around AD 1000. (All of these ancestors will have contributed to one's autosomal DNA is concerned: this excludes Y-chromosomal DNA and mitochondrial DNA.)

Some cultures confer reverence to ancestors, both living and dead; in contrast, some more youth-oriented cultural contexts display less veneration of elders. In other cultural contexts, some people seek providence from their deceased ancestors; this practice is sometimes known as ancestor worship or, more accurately, ancestor veneration.

For more information about Ancestor, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.