A stomach bacterium in favor of the theory "Out of Africa"

2007/04/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Eboluzioa
• Genetika

When modern man left Africa about 58,000 years ago, in addition to tools and weapons, he took with him the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. A paper published in the journal Nature analyzes the extent and evolution of the bacterium and concludes that the data coincide with the theory of Out of Africa or "Out of Africa". In two words, this theory says that the present human being is a descendant of human groups drawn and extended from East Africa.

To reach this conclusion, the microbiologists of the Max-Plank Institute, since 1999, have received samples of bacteria all over the world through endoscopy, which have been raised in laboratory. A total of 532 strains of 51 ethnic groups have been obtained.

They have related the genetic sequence of strains to the origin of people and have shown that the closer the origin of the person is from East Africa, the less strains there are and vice versa. It seems, therefore, that mutations in the genome of the bacterium occurred as man expanded throughout the world, increasing the number of strains with the removal of Africa.