From May 22nd to May 24th, I had the opportunity to travel to Leipzig, Germany, where I visited the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and met with PhD student Jae Rodriguez. This visit was both educational and inspiring, offering insights into the world of evolutionary anthropology and the fascinating research being conducted at this renowned institution. Only six months before my visit, Svante Pääbo, the director of the Department of Evolutionary Genetics at the institute, had been awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his groundbreaking work on Neanderthal genomes (Nobel Prize, 2022).
During my stay, I gave a presentation on the Bajau Laut titled "Sama Bajau: Lifestyle, History, Evolution" to a group of students and faculty members as part of their "Ocean's Meeting" series. In my presentation, I delved into their rich history, cultural significance, and the political factors influencing their way of life. Additionally, I explored the physiological aspects of their connection to the sea, such as their remarkable sense of well-being while living on the water. Scientific studies support this connection, showing that the rocking of waves improves sleep quality (Perrault et al., 2019), natural water sounds enhance relaxation (Gould van Praag, 2017), consuming marine food improves sleep quality (St-Onge, 2016), and more.
Jae Rodriguez, the PhD student who hosted me, focuses his research on the genetic origins and adaptations of the indigenous inhabitants of the Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines. A significant part of Jae's research involves samples from over 1,000 Sama Bajau individuals in the southwestern Philippines, particularly around Tawi-Tawi, which are carefully stored in one of the institute's labs. This material is crucial for mapping the Sama Bajau's history and gaining a broader understanding of their genetic adaptations and unique lifestyle. It would be fascinating to delve deeper into the genetic sequences related to spleen size that Melissa Ilardo studied when she researched Bajau Laut divers in central Sulawesi, Indonesia. She found that the Bajau Laut in the area had undergone natural selection for larger spleens over at least a few thousand years (Ilardo et al., 2018).
I first met Jae Rodriguez at a conference in the Philippines in 2015, and we have kept in touch since then. It was a true pleasure to meet up with Jae in Leipzig and discuss the Bajau's history, lifestyle, evolution, and future challenges, as well as other aspects of human evolution.
Jae also gave me a tour of the Max Planck Institute, including an exhibition on the ground floor about human history. I was looking forward to meeting Svante Pääbo, who also hails from Sweden, but despite his office being wide open, he was not around at the time. Outside his office, a Neanderthal skeleton was on display. Pääbo was the first scientist to sequence the entire genome of a Neanderthal, proving that Homo sapiens and Neanderthals had shared offspring, which has medical implications still today (Pääbo et al., 2010). A few years later, he also sequenced Denisovan DNA, revealing genetic traces in modern humans, particularly in Southeast Asian island populations, where up to 5% of some groups' genes come from Denisovans (Reich et al., 2011). These discoveries have changed our understanding of the complexity of human evolution and made us realize how similar we are to our closest cousins who live on within us.
The institute itself is a dream destination for anyone interested in human evolution. It brings together scientists from diverse fields, including natural sciences and humanities, to investigate human history through interdisciplinary research. Their work includes comparative analyses of genes, cultures, cognitive abilities, languages, and social systems of both past and present human populations, as well as primates closely related to humans. The institute also hosts young doctoral students from around the world who delve into historical and genetic research from their own regions (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology).
My visit to the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology was a remarkable journey into the depths of human history and genetics. The opportunity to share my research on the Bajau Laut, explore cutting-edge scientific work, and connect with passionate scholars made this trip an unforgettable experience. As the field of genetics rapidly develops, new methods for analyzing ancient fossils will hopefully emerge. These new findings will reveal that even more populations have contributed to who we are today, making us even more humble about our origins and who we are.
References
Gould van Praag, C. D. et al. (2017). "The Influence of Natural Sounds on Attention and Mood." Scientific Reports. Retrieved from nature.com.
Ilardo, M. A. et al. (2018). "Physiological and Genetic Adaptations to Diving in Sea Nomads." Cell. Retrieved from cell.com.
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. "About Us." Retrieved from eva.mpg.de.
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. "Prof. Dr. Svante Pääbo." Retrieved from eva.mpg.de.
Nobel Prize. "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2022." Retrieved from nobelprize.org.
Pääbo, S. et al. (2010). "A Draft Sequence of the Neandertal Genome." Science. Retrieved from science.org.
Perrault, A. A. et al. (2019). "Rocking Promotes Sleep in Humans." Current Biology. Retrieved from cell.com.
Reich, D. et al. (2011). "Denisova Admixture and the First Modern Human Dispersals into Southeast Asia and Oceania." American Journal of Human Genetics. Retrieved from cell.com.
St-Onge, M. P. et al. (2016). "Fish Consumption and Sleep Quality." Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. Retrieved from jcsm.aasm.org.
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