We Aren’t Unique: How Other Human Species Shaped Modern Human DNA (New Scientist Documentary)

We aren’t unique.  Once upon a time a number of different human species existed – not all at the same time but over the course of hundreds of thousands of years.  And, it seems, we got more than a little “Discovery Channel” with a lot of them.  So much so, that it has been established that a maximum of 7% of our DNA originated in our species, Homo Sapiens.  The rest came from other human species, the Neanderthals, Denisovans and some yet-to-be identified species who are still referred to as “ghost populations” as we haven’t yet discovered any remains.

This short documentary by New Scientist is presented by Ella al-Shamahi, who comes across as approachably clever, although I would never want to be playing against her in a game of chess.  Here she delves into the discoveries that rewrote human evolution in a clear and understandable way (you could call this Denisovans for Dummies if you wanted to get alliterative).  The documentary also covers not only why mating with already established human populations may have seemed like a good idea at the time to our ancestors, but the hidden cost of doing so.  It asks (and answers) questions about human origin that I may not have known I particularly wanted or needed to understand, but which are fascinating regardless.