"Human genetic variation is the genetic differences in and among populations."
Study of the differences and similarities between human populations.
Genetics: An understanding of the basic principles of genetics is essential for studying human variation as it lays the foundation for understanding variation in traits and populations.
Evolutionary Theory: Knowledge of evolutionary theory helps anthropologists understand how human populations have changed over time and how genetic variation arises.
Human Adaptations: Human adaptations refer to the changes that have occurred in human anatomy and physiology over time in response to environmental factors.
Race and Ethnicity: Understanding race and ethnicity and how it relates to human biological variation is essential in this field.
Physical Anthropology: Physical anthropology investigates questions of human origin, evolution, and biological variation.
Demography: Demography refers to the study of human population characteristics such as size, growth, density, and distribution.
Ecological Anthropology: Ecological anthropology explores the relationship between humans and their environment and how it affects biological variation.
Bioarchaeology: Bioarchaeology involves the study of human skeletal remains to learn about past populations and how they compare to modern humans.
Forensic Anthropology: Forensic anthropology is the investigation of human remains to determine identity, cause of death, and other information pertinent to legal challenges.
Human Osteology: Human osteology refers to the study of human bones and the anatomical variation that is present across populations.
Biostatistics: Biostatistics involves the application of statistical methods to biological and medical data which is necessary for analyzing population data and trends.
Cultural Anthropology: Cultural anthropology examines the beliefs, practices, and behaviors of human societies and how it influences human variation.
Linguistic Anthropology: Linguistic anthropology focuses on the study of language and how it relates to human cultures and human variation.
Medical Anthropology: Medical anthropology investigates how culture and biology interact to influence human health and disease.
Human Genome Project: The Human Genome Project was an international collaborative project that aimed to map the entire human genome, which is fundamental in understanding the genetic basis of human variation.
Physical characteristics: This refers to differences in bone structure, muscle mass, skin color, facial features, and other traits.
Genetics: Genetic variation refers to differences in DNA sequences or gene expression between individuals or populations.
Biochemistry: Variation in the chemical processes that occur in the body, such as enzyme levels or metabolite concentrations.
Immune response: Variability in how the immune system responds to pathogens and diseases.
Hormones: Differences in levels of hormones, such as testosterone, estrogen, or cortisol, that regulate different bodily functions.
Growth and development: Variabilities in the rate and pattern of physical growth and maturation.
Gender/sex: Differences in biological traits between males and females, including hormone levels, reproductive organs, and secondary sex characteristics.
Age: Changes that occur in the body over time, including changes in bone density, muscle mass, and overall physiology.
Nutrition: Differences in diet and nutrient intake that can affect physical traits and overall health.
Environmental factors: Variations in exposure to factors such as climate, altitude, sunlight, and pollution that can have physiological effects.
"No two humans are genetically identical."
"Even monozygotic twins (who develop from one zygote) have infrequent genetic differences due to mutations occurring during development and gene copy-number variation."
"The human genome has a total length of approximately 3.2 billion base pairs (bp) across 46 chromosomes of DNA as well as slightly under 17,000 bp DNA in cellular mitochondria."
"In 2015, the typical difference between an individual's genome and the reference genome was estimated at 20 million base pairs (or 0.6% of the total)."
"As of 2017, there were a total of 324 million known variants from sequenced human genomes."
"The majority of variation exists within the members of each human population."
"For comparison, rhesus macaques exhibit 2.5-fold greater DNA sequence diversity compared to humans."
"The lack of discontinuities in genetic distances between human populations, absence of discrete branches in the human species, and striking homogeneity of human beings globally, imply that there is no scientific basis for inferring races or subspecies in humans."
"Modern genetic studies have found substantial average genetic differences across human populations in traits such as skin colour, bodily dimensions, lactose and starch digestion, high altitude adaptations, and predisposition to developing particular diseases."
"The greatest diversity is found within and among populations in Africa."
"The study of human genetic variation can help scientists reconstruct and understand patterns of past human migration."
"In medicine, the study of human genetic variation may be important because some disease-causing alleles occur more often in certain population groups."
"The mutation for sickle-cell anemia is more often found in people with ancestry from certain sub-Saharan African, south European, Arabian, and Indian populations."
"New findings show that each human has on average 60 new mutations compared to their parents."
"No two humans are genetically identical."
"Differences between individuals, even closely related individuals, are the key to techniques such as genetic fingerprinting."
"Although a small number of genetic variants are found more frequently in certain geographic regions or in people with ancestry from those regions, this variation accounts for a small portion (~15%) of human genome variability."
"The lack of discontinuities in genetic distances between human populations, absence of discrete branches in the human species, and striking homogeneity of human beings globally, imply that there is no scientific basis for inferring races or subspecies in humans."
"The diversity gradually declines with increasing distance from the African continent, consistent with the Out of Africa theory of human origins."