CARTA - Anthropogeny (Video)

A fundamental question in biology is: how did humans acquire their unique characteristics? What allows us to stand upright, while our primate ancestors walked on all fours? What brain alterations drove our increased...

Humans excel at transmitting ideas, skills, and knowledge across generations, and at building on those competencies in a cumulative manner. James Rilling, Professor of Psychology at Emory University, explores how the...

The distinct biology of the human brain, scaffolded by language and culture, allows ideas to be formed, named, shared, and accumulated across generations. Dean Falk, Professor of Anthropology, Florida State University...

Our brains are engines of imagination—an “idea organ” that has transformed both our species and the planet. Genevieve Konopka, Chair of the Department of Neurobiology in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, asks...

Humans live in a world of ideas—born in the brain, shared through language, accumulated in culture across generations, and made reality. From the first flaked stone tools to the building of shelters, from figurative and...

Humans live in a world of ideas—born in the brain, shared through language, accumulated in culture across generations, and made reality. Professor Alysson Muotri, UC San Diego Departments of Pediatrics and Cellular and...

Dramatic advances in ancient DNA technologies have revolutionized our understanding of the human past. As part of the CARTA symposium on Ancient DNA, the panelists answer questions about the diverse applications of...

Genetic data is transforming the understanding of our own species and refining historical chapters at different scales around the globe. However, despite the globalization of biotechnologies to analyze the human genome...

The human genetic history of South Asia has been shaped by its pivotal location at the crossroads of East and West Eurasia, dramatic landscapes such as the Himalayas, and longstanding socio-cultural practices like...

Ancient DNA has revolutionized the study of the human past, providing unprecedented insights into ancient migrations and interactions among populations. Central Asia, due to its geographic location between Europe and...

Over the past decade, archaeogenetics has analyzed more than 15,000 ancient genomes spanning 45,000 years of western Eurasian prehistory, uncovering dozens of migrations that reshaped Europe. Johannes Krause, Max Planck...

Dramatic advances in ancient DNA technologies have revolutionized our understanding of the human past. Since the publication of the first ancient human genomes in 2010, the field of archaeogenomics has grown at an...

The Kazakh and Mongolian Steppes span 5,000 kilometers west to east along the northern latitude of Asia. This unique ecozone allowed rapid movements of people, animals, goods, and ideas across Eurasia since prehistory...

Humans have a deep and complex relationship with microbes. Beyond disease, microbes also profoundly shape human health and behavior through their activity in the microbiome and their diverse roles in food and cuisine...

David Gokhman of the Weizmann Institute of Science explores how changes in gene regulation shaped recent human evolution. His team used massively parallel reporter assays in skeletal and neural cells to test 71,443...