Odyssey of Genes

Having learned to «read» DNA not only of modern Homo sapiens but also of our distant ancestors, we have gained the ability to travel through time. In this book, guided by genetic anthropologist Evelyn Eyer, the reader will traverse the same paths taken by our vanished relatives — Neanderthals, Denisovans, and the mysterious Steppe people who laid the foundations of all Indo-European languages; follow in the footsteps of Bukharan Jews, the troops of Genghis Khan, and the thousands of «royal daughters» sent by Louis XIV to populate New France; board a ship carrying African slaves away from their homeland… The author makes use of the latest scientific research and shares her own field observations in a scientific field that just yesterday seemed like science fiction. This science — genetics — answers the question: how did humans become humans? How, in just a few million years, did a handful of wandering Homo sapiens turn into the dominant species on the planet.