A nuclear perspective on human evolution

Human genome diversity and recent human evolution are intimately related. The distribution of DNA sequence variation within and among human populations, however one chooses to define those populations, is the result of numerous evolutionary factors (migration, selection, mutation, and random genetic drift) operating throughout the history of our species and its recent ancestors. The emphasis of human diversity studies is shifting from simple description of which populations are ‘more closely related’ to identification of the evolutionary forces and historical events that are responsible for the extant diversity. The patterns of variation seen in mitochondrial, sex chromosome, and autosomal DNA are both the result of and reflect those factors, but differently.