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I thought it would be nice for you guys to play around with this, I have got my answer, let's see if anyone views it the same way.
There is a gene coding for a protein. The protein can either have amino acid A on the end or the aminoacid B. It turns out that humans only have amino acid B, since we have a deletion in the gene.
Chimpansees have amino acid A though, so the deletion took place after we diverged from the chimp. Now, scientists isolated proteins from Neanderthaler bone and found that also here, only form B is present.
So the deletion predates our common ancestor, about 2.7 Mya (million year ago).
Is it thinkable that a founder effect has caused humans to loose from A of the gene, and how would you test that hypothesis?
There is a gene coding for a protein. The protein can either have amino acid A on the end or the aminoacid B. It turns out that humans only have amino acid B, since we have a deletion in the gene.
Chimpansees have amino acid A though, so the deletion took place after we diverged from the chimp. Now, scientists isolated proteins from Neanderthaler bone and found that also here, only form B is present.
So the deletion predates our common ancestor, about 2.7 Mya (million year ago).
Is it thinkable that a founder effect has caused humans to loose from A of the gene, and how would you test that hypothesis?