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We are living through a revolution in knowledge. Over the past twenty years, genetics has shed light on the history of humanity in unprecedented ways. It enables us to study an individual's genome, compare it with populations worldwide, and understand its place in human history.
Here Lluís Quintana-Murci, one of the scientists at the forefront of this research reveals how population genetics is transforming our understanding of who we are. Thanks to numerous discoveries, we now know how Homo sapiens spread around the world: from their exit from Africa approximately 60,000 years ago to the recent settlement of the remote lands of Polynesia within the last millennia. Population genetics has also shown that humans mixed with now-extinct species, including Neanderthals, enabling them to adapt to new environments and survive diseases. These cutting-edge genetic findings will shape our future too, offering the key to medicine tailored to individuals.
But the greatest revelation of population genetics is that we are all mixed and the product of our ancestors' long odyssey of migrations and adaptations across the globe. As Quintana-Murci explains, without diversity, without difference, there is no evolution. Filled with fascinating insights from the front line of research, Human Peoples is a pioneering guide to the ground-breaking science of our shared past.
Originally published in French in 2021 as Le Peuple des Humains: Sur les Traces Génétiques des Migrations, Métissages et Adaptations by Odile Jacob.
Lluís Quintana-Murci is a Professor at the College de France in Paris where he holds the Chair of Human Genomics and Evolution. He also directs the Human Evolutionary Genetics Unit at the Institut Pasteur. Human Peoples was published to great acclaim in France.
"What are we? Where do we come from? Human Peoples takes us on a fascinating tour through what our genetics reveals about our deep-time history as a species. Astonishing and eye-opening"
– Professor Lewis Dartnell, author of Being Human: How our Biology Shaped World History
"Masterful and ambitious. If you want to understand the power of population genetics in revealing the complex and diverse story of humanity, read this book"
– Professor Tom Higham
"Human Peoples answers the question we all ask ourselves: where do we, Homo sapiens, come from? [...] Written by one of the world's leading specialists in population genetics [...] this book shows the vital importance of population mixing in the adaptation of our ancestors to the different environments they encountered in their journeys across the planet. There is nothing didactic or dogmatic about this book: it is pure science. But that doesn't mean that anyone can't enjoy it"
– Liberation
"An accessible and fascinating book"
– Lire Magazine
"Precious are the books that manage to talk about scientific research, combining clarity, precision and narrative sensibility. This work, by biologist Lluís Quintana-Murci, is one such book [...] Thanks to the discipline of population genetics, we have revisited our understanding of the human settlement of the planet. We have also come to appreciate the fantastic diversity of modern human genetics, and their evolution [...] a captivating epic journey between past, present and future"
– Sciences et Avenir
"Don't miss out on this extremely clear book from an accomplished researcher"
– Pour la Science
"Illuminating [...] a book we should all read [...] Quintana-Murci answers the universal questions: where do we come from? Who are we? And where are we going? His approach renders the seemingly arduous clear"
– La Voix du Nord
"Remarkably well-researched and accessible [...] a magisterial work"
– Quinzaines, Lettres
"A fascinating portrait of the human species, viewed through its genes [...] a meticulous investigation into the future of humanity in the face of climate change, pandemics and globalisation"
– Le Point
"Clear [...] accessible [...] this is a hymn to diversity and population mixing, based on solid scientific research"
– Revue de Biologie
