A protein found in the saliva samples of Sub-Saharan Africans offers evidence that strongly contradicts the ‘Out of Africa’ theory for human origins. Scientists from the University of Buffalo stumbled on the genetic marker for an unknown African interbreeding event while researching the evolution of an important mucin protein called MUC7.
Sub-Saharan Africa has long been considered the birth place of humanity. The region’s Khoisan population is heralded as the oldest known human lineage on Earth, surviving remnants of the population ancestral to all modern humans. The University of Buffalo research program, headed by Omer Gokcumen, Ph.D., assistant professor of biological sciences, and Stefan Ruhl, DDS, Ph.D., a professor of oral biology, has uncovered startling data that potentially displaces Sub-Saharan Africans as being ancestral to all humans.
“Our research traced the evolution of an important mucin protein called MUC7 that is found in saliva,” explains Gokcumen. “When we looked at the history of the gene that codes for the protein, we see the signature of archaic admixture in modern day Sub-Saharan African populations.”
In recent years gene studies have revealed that the ancestors of modern humans in Asia and Europe interbred with other variants of the human family, among these were Neanderthals and Denisovans. The MUC7 research adds to growing evidence that ancient Africans also encountered and interbred with local hominin populations.
“It seems…