Carta - Center For Academic Research And Training In Anthropogeny (audio)

New fossil evidence of hominin diversity suggests that there was not a single transition to human-like body form in early Homo. In this talk, Carol Ward explains how this may be changing our ideas about the origins of our genus. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30643]

In this inaugural presentation to incoming UC San Diego Medical School students, Dr. Ajit Varki, Executive Co-Director of CARTA, provides an evolutionary perspective on understanding human health and disease. Why? Because The biological aspects of medicine are rooted in understanding the evolution of our species, and those of other organisms that interact with us in health and disease. Thus, to paraphrase Dobzhansky, “nothing in the biological aspects of medicine makes sense except in the light of evolution.” Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 31730]

Canadian Rap-Artist, award-winning playwright, and former tree-planter Baba Brinkman brings his singular form of "peer-reviewed" Rap to the CARTA symposium Implications of Anthropogeny for Medicine and Public Health with a very special performance of unique Raps on disease, evolution and even the symposium itself. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 31611]

In the last seven years, two hominin species possessing a mixture of primitive and Homo-like morphology – Australopithecus sediba and Homo naledi – have been discovered in South Africa. Duke University’s Steven Churchill believes that these remarkable finds call for new models in not only understanding the origins of genus Homo, but also the emergence of Homo erectus. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30642]

Harvard’s Philip Rightmire describes the rich array of early hominin fossils discovered at the Dmanisi site in the Georgian Caucasus. He maintains that these fossils can most reasonably be attributed to Homo erectus, but several of the skeletons display primitive anatomy. That means that the boundaries between H. erectus and other early Homo taxa are less distinct, making it difficult to identify diagnostic traits. He concludes that the emergence of the Homo clade was characterized more by an overlap of groups evolving 2.0 to 1.0 mya, rather than obvious diversity between species. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30639]

Closing Remarks and Audience Questions for the CARTA syposium, Implications of Anthropogeny for Medicine and Public Health. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 31610]

Opening remarks to the CARTA syposium, Implications of Anthropogeny for Medicine and Public Health. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 31600]

Welcome and introduction to the CARTA syposium, Implications of Anthropogeny for Medicine and Public Health. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 31599]

The search for the “origin of Homo” suggests we know what we are looking for, so unless we are clear about that, then how will we know when we have found it? In this talk, Bernard Wood (George Washington Univ) explains what he looks for within the fossil record when searching for the origins of our own genus, Homo. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30637]

The age of origin of the Homo lineage is thought to have fallen between 2.5 and 3.0 mya. However, William Kimbel (Arizona State Univ) argues in this talk that recent fossil and stone tool discoveries call for a new evaluation of factors involved in the origin and the early evolution of Homo. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30638]

The human species underwent a watershed change in the biochemical composition of its cell surfaces, via a genetic event estimated to have occurred ~2-3 mya, which is also the apparent period of the emergence of the genus Homo. In this talk, UC San Diego’s Pascal Gagneux explains how this radical makeover of cell surfaces in early Homo would have brought about a mismatch between females lacking a certain cell surface sialic acid and males still expressing it, essentially providing a mechanism for reproductive isolation and speciation. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30641]

Jeff Severinghaus of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego addresses Abrupt Climate Transitions and Humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 29691]

Jessica Sommerville (Univ of Washington) reviews evidence to suggest that, within the first year of life, infants develop an understanding of transient mental states (such as goals and desires), enduring personal dispositions (such as preferences), and socio-moral norms (such as fairness norms), that is driven by their own actions on the world, as well as their interactions with other people. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 26082]

Johannes Krause (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History) and his research team analyzed more than 200 ancient human genomes spanning the last 10,000 years of Western Eurasian pre-history. They found direct evidence for two major genetic turnover events at the beginning and at the end of the Neolithic time period in Europe, which they attribute to two major migrations. This explains why all modern European populations are a genetic mixture of steppe pastoralist, early farmers and indigenous European hunter-gatherers in varying proportion. This genetic mixture together with local biological adaptation has led to major changes in human phenotypes such as eye color, skin color, and the ability to digest milk sugar over the past 10,000 years. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30982]

Tony Capra (Vanderbilt Univ) and his team analyzed the contribution of common Neandertal variants to over 1000 electronic health record (EHR)-derived phenotypes in ~28,000 adults of European ancestry. Their results establish that archaic admixture influences disease risk in modern humans, provide hypotheses about the effects of hundreds of Neandertal haplotypes, and demonstrate the utility of HER data in evolutionary analyses. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30981]

In this talk, María Avila-Arcos (National Autonomous University of Mexico) presents a review of the current state of knowledge of the genetic history of the Americas as revealed by ancient and modern DNA studies. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30983]

Conclusion, Audience Questions and Closing Remarks for the CARTA symposium: Ancient DNA and Human Evolution. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30984]

Brenna Henn (Stony Brook Univ) explores patterns of genetic diversity across Africa and models for modern human origins in this talk. She discusses whether genetic data is concordant with archaeological data and suggests directions for future research. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30979]

UC Santa Cruz’s Ed Green delivers the opening remarks for the CARTA symposium: Ancient DNA and Human Evolution Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30974]

Pascal Gagneaux welcomes guests to the CARTA symposium: Ancient DNA and Human Evolution Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30973]