Biogeographic ancestry is a concept of lineage that looks at kinship and descent based on biogeography, a combination of biology and geography. Kinship and descent is one of the major concepts of cultural anthropology. ... Biogeography is the science which deals with questions of species patterns of distribution and the process that resulted in such patterns. ... Main articles: Life The most salient example of biological universality is that all living things share a common carbon-based biochemistry and in particular pass on their characteristics via genetic material, which is based on nucleic acids such as DNA and which uses a common genetic code with only minor...

The study of ancestry based on mitochondrial DNA, ALU polymorphisms, and other genetic markers has significant implications in law enforcement, medicine, archaeology, and anthropology. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA, or less popularly, mDNA) is DNA which is not located in the nucleus of the cell but in the mitochondria. ... For the band, see The Police. ... Medicine on the Web NLM (National Library of Medicine, contains resources for patients and healthcare professionals) Virtual Hospital (digital health sciences library by the University of Iowa) Online Medical Dictionary Collection of links to free medical resources Categories: Medicine | Health ... Importance and applicability Most of human history is not described by any written records. ... Jump to: navigation, search Anthropology (from the Greek word άνθρωπος, human) consists of the study of humankind (see genus Homo). ...

Scientists believe genetic ancestry can help to focus the search for genes that affect individuals' risks of diseases, as well as prevalence and distribution of disease. Others advocate using it as a means of profiling persons for the purposes of law enforcement. In many of the cases, the term is used synonymously with race and can be used to determing the genetic admixture of an individual. Jump to: navigation, search This stylistic schematic diagram shows a gene in relation to the double helix structure of DNA and to a chromosome (right). ... Jump to: navigation, search A disease is any abnormal condition of the body or mind that causes discomfort, dysfunction, or distress to the person affected or those in contact with the person. ... Jump to: navigation, search A race is a population of humans distinguished from other populations. ...

The field is sometimes controversial because of the ethical issues raised by DNA profiling. Some critics argue that biogeographic ancestry is simply a means of reification for a social construct. Reification, also called hypostatisation, is treating an abstract concept as if it were a real, concrete thing. ... Social scientists and literary scholars have claimed that many things are social constructions or social constructs, or that they have been socially constructed. ...

References

• Bamshad M. Genetic Influences on Health: Does Race Matter? Journal of the American Medical Association. 2005; 294: 937-946.

• Fernández JR, Shriver MD, Beasley TM, Rafla-Demetrious N, Parra E, Albu J, Nicklas B, Ryan AS, McKeigue PM, Hoggart CL, Weinsier RL, Allison DB. Association of African Genetic Admixture with Resting Metabolic Rate and Obesity Among Women. Obesity Research 2003 11: 904-911.

• Tishkoff SA, Kidd KK. Implications of biogeography of human populations for 'race' and medicine. Nature Genetics 36, S21 - S27 (2004).

External links

• Minorities, Race, and Genomics via Human Genome Project information.