EMBO reports 9, S1, S46–S50 (2008)

The British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill (1874–1965) was quoted as saying “the farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see,” which nicely summarizes the usual argument for studying human history. However, even Sir Winston was probably not thinking in terms of the millions of years backward that we have to look to understand the origins of our species. Still, when considering the future of our species, there is merit in examining our beginnings and how we came to be the way we are—such an investigation will not only provide for more informed speculation about our future evolution, but will also highlight important lessons from the history of ideas about our origins.

It is only relatively recently—and only with the advent of molecular genetics—that scientists have largely been able to answer two important questions about human evolution: who are our closest relatives, and what were the circumstances that led to modern humans? Here, I describe how molecular approaches answered these questions and explain why the answers proved to be so difficult.