Dr. Henry Gee

Everyone looks very similar because it's built from only a limited amount of genetic variation. And way back in hominin history, around a million years ago, there's been some recent work published in Science that described what must have been a very awkward age, about 800,000 years ago, where for a million years, there were only about 1,000 breeding humans at any one time.

So there was a long period, and this was before Neanderthals, this was sort of Homo erectus time, but it's looking at the genes of people alive today. There are signs that humans and our immediate ancestors almost became extinct many times. So the fact that we're alive today is really quite remarkable, and the fact that we are not only alive today, but we spread throughout the Earth,

So there was a long period, and this was before Neanderthals, this was sort of Homo erectus time, but it's looking at the genes of people alive today. There are signs that humans and our immediate ancestors almost became extinct many times. So the fact that we're alive today is really quite remarkable, and the fact that we are not only alive today, but we spread throughout the Earth,

So there was a long period, and this was before Neanderthals, this was sort of Homo erectus time, but it's looking at the genes of people alive today. There are signs that humans and our immediate ancestors almost became extinct many times. So the fact that we're alive today is really quite remarkable, and the fact that we are not only alive today, but we spread throughout the Earth,

with a genetic variability in the entire human species that is no greater than a tribe of chimps living in Côte d'Ivoire today. So we have this extraordinarily low genetic diversity. Maybe we succeeded because Neanderthals didn't, was because their genetic diversity was even worse than ours.

with a genetic variability in the entire human species that is no greater than a tribe of chimps living in Côte d'Ivoire today. So we have this extraordinarily low genetic diversity. Maybe we succeeded because Neanderthals didn't, was because their genetic diversity was even worse than ours.

with a genetic variability in the entire human species that is no greater than a tribe of chimps living in Côte d'Ivoire today. So we have this extraordinarily low genetic diversity. Maybe we succeeded because Neanderthals didn't, was because their genetic diversity was even worse than ours.

It is called The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire, Why Our Species is on the Edge of Extinction. And it's published by Picador in the UK on the 13th of March this year, and in America by St. Martin's Press on the 18th of March.

It is called The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire, Why Our Species is on the Edge of Extinction. And it's published by Picador in the UK on the 13th of March this year, and in America by St. Martin's Press on the 18th of March.

It is called The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire, Why Our Species is on the Edge of Extinction. And it's published by Picador in the UK on the 13th of March this year, and in America by St. Martin's Press on the 18th of March.