Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey
A fantastic documentary tracing the earliest human migration on this planet, as shown by our genetic roots.
This informative film, full of surprising news, is based on the work of Spencer Wells, who is both innovative scientist and enthusiastic host.
He and crew scour the world for indigenous people with deep roots in one place, asking for samples of DNA to test, in order to piece together our "big family" genetic tree.
In Indiana Jones mode, Wells tacks down common ancestors and comes up with some surprising candidates which he interviews.
The best parts are when he returns with DNA results and we see the diverse ways in which people and tribes react to the news of what science says about their arrival and relations. View this as adventure travel or as a painless way to begin your genetic literacy.
People assume all races came from melanated people, but science says the original humans are stardust, basically from the stars and formed with the planet and the other races are hybrids or part neanderthal, which has been recently acknowledged.
The modern man and woman narrative then is correct, and the only question is who or what, created the modern man and woman.
I sincerely hope the original inhabitants of this planet did not engage in experiments in pursuit of creating a hybrid people.
If so, I would extend my apology to all people affected by the experiments.
Haats Off ....incredible documentary for the human kind
Way too drawn out and very dated. Could have covered a lot more detail in that period, or consolidated this to about 40 mins. Reflects a stubborn denial of the now overwhelming evidence that humans crossed into NoAmerica prior to 13000 BCE. So no land corridor. Much more likely that the newcomers hunted the edges of the sea ice by boat and came down the coast which now is, unfortunately hundreds of feet underwater.
Would have been interesting if they included women's mitochondrial DNA and presented both threads.
I personally like this doc tremendously. I've always been interested in this topic , of couse. After seeing this dvd for the first time, I am eager to do more research. Starting with your comments and moving forward, l feel like I will be well versed on this subject, so thank you all for pros and cons...great comments
This Journey of Man is HORRIBLY OUT OF DATE! It was written in 2002 long before it was found that modern humans coming out of Africa interbred with Neanderthals and other archaic humans like the Denisovan!
Also the first modern man in the Eurasia was a Neanderthal hybrid, thats why all Eurasians carry Neanderthal DNA (40 000 year old Oase Skull found in Romania had 10% Neanderthal DNA)
White skin is relatively late in human history! It originated in Central Asia and was taken into Europe by the Middle Eastern Farmers about 8000 years ago. DNA taken from a 8000 year old Iberian, La Brana Man, shows he had Caucasian features, brown straight hair and blue eyes
ryanwill37, I also had the same theory but then I started to question it since all "races" of humanity possess Neanderthal DNA (missing in the Sub-Saharan Africans). Even the aboriginal people of Australia, (who, are as dark as the sub Saharan Africans) have their DNA. Maybe Europeans have more of the Neanderthal DNA?
Awesome! What a journey.......
Excellent! Although a more recent doc mentioned earlier: The Incredible Human Journey is more succint. the ending where he says that imposing distinctions on people based on race is both devicsive and scientifically incorrect was spot on. The differences we see between what we commonly call the 'races' are insignificant when we consider the simmilarities. I'm glad to call myself a member of the human family with 6+ billion relatives and a common African origin.
This needs to be shown to white racists who have done so much evil to Black people. Stupid people. You came from Blacks and you can't get away from that. You've treated these people appallingly for hundreds and hundreds of years and to date! Hang your heads in shame. If these Africans came to a White country now and they went to a small town to conduct research, the white savages there will try and kill them. If they can't, they will torture them and call them racist names. This solidifies my beliefs that Whites are the savages!
I was shown this in a 300-level Genetics class at University; very interesting indeed. I wonder how many who have nasty things to say even bothered to major in the sciences?
Hey 555 maybe you should shove youre inferiority complex and have a more open mind about modern genetics and the interelatedness of man,or maybe you just cant see past youre own racist prejudices.
I'm gonna sue this guy for the bad dream he gave me from watching this doc last night. Dreamed he had me up all night working with him when i was supposed to be servicing the needs of my best girl him having co opted me to do all these horrifically painstaking things an entire day and night such as sucking the blood out of entire tribes of people like some milkface vampire with a syringe. This on the strength of my having sat through a couple of hours of the alfalfa half a alpha male charisma and charm while he walked into pefectly-ok-thankyou villages and pressed his superior ideology on brown people like some latterday missionary creepin' jesus telling them basically that their cherished myths had come out the back end of a bull. Had a to vomit a bit frankly, whatever the intensity of my cusriosity and interest and my respect for this guy's scientific talent and tenacity. I mean why don't we have it all ways? Prove scientifically that racism is undefendable fearful stupid hokum then go and ram all your superior reasoning down the throats of anyone who hasn't enjoyed the 'privelege' of your captain of industry waspy education and background. I hope it's clear I'm waxing a little rhetorical here, nothing too vehement going on, and the doc was not unentertaining but i do question the man's reasoning and motives. Comments anyone?
This was interesting but should have been about half the length.
Why did he only use men in the blood sample? Why not woman?
My question is. Why do Europeans evolve to have white skin and various hair colors and no other group of people in the world did? He said it was because of the temperature and it caused us to cover ourselves to help absorb vitamin D. But the people in Siberia havent change in skin color at all. No one else in the colder climates changed skin color. Even other groups of people lives in much much colder temperatures.
If you relocate from your birthplace and climatized to that area, will your offspring have the old potential or new to withstand a new environment? Is this whats considered a mutation, or is mutation random?
Great stuff, Thank you.
Much to learn from this and there is hope if we can learn.
As a nation or race we own destruction.
As a species we have unlimited potential.
I hope we can survive long enough to realise that human potential.
how can I buy this documentary?
Absolutely loved this Documentary and it offers a more rugged look at our genetic ancestry. I learned a great deal from it, and I thought the host was brilliant and relaxing to listen to. He does entertain a highly scientific disposition among aboriginals though, and tries to explain his genetic journey to them, and who their ancestors were genetically... which can have you wincing in embarrassment though! Highly Recommended.
A very concise study in to the resilience of man-kind. I just wish he would have let the people speak more on their beliefs, as it is the spiritual strength and set of beliefs that was the fabric for determination in this journey of man. Allowing these ancient people to digest science' explanation, and their views on this would have been a more interesting documentary, rather than dictating what is to a spiritual way of life, still intriguing to watch though.
A breathtaking, staggering (lost for superlatives!) documentary, superbly presented and sensitively dealt with. I really couldn't recommend this film high enough to anyone interested in where we came from.
While the narrator appears to be a fine geneticist, as a social commentator, he is puerile and callow.
I cringed with embarassment as he went from tribe to tribe for the sole purpose of lauding some of their members for their prominent genetic markers. This amounts to giving them a pat onthe back for something which they had nothing to do with.
Quite frankly, I don't understand the narrator's panegyric over our ancestors of 30,000 to 40,000 years back. When you look at it, they were far from remarkable.
The conclusion of the documntary was particularly offensive. Our biological relationships do not militate an individual's duty to mankind in general. Again,
In short, I wish the narrator would have stuck to what he knows.
I don't mind watching an old documentary now and then (specially science or history based), but it would be easier if I knew this ahead. Thanks to the writer who recommended THE INCREDIBLE HUMAN JOURNEY ( a very recent update, and also available on this site). Highly recommend. Yes, the migration went from North Africa, around India (link has been found), then to Australia which was much closer (I think they said approx 150 miles of open ocean was crossed - still significant, but a LOT less than today's 4000+ miles). We are all Related, that's the most important message, our migrations? simply fascinating.
Check out Stephen Oppenheimer's study on the same subject. Much better.
@ equus,
Why so angry? You will never get angry enough to change an opinion. What people will do is tune you out and talk around you.
It was a good introductory doc. To some one never exposed to this type of science before, it was simply presented and entertaining. A more sophisticated understanding can grow from this.