February 13, 2008February 13, 2008 by Luigi Guarino

Farmers and hunter gatherers in Africa

The human genetics of farming transition in Central Africa. Lots more here.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

1. Sir Nathaniel Bacon’s painting records the arrival of American crops in early modern England. And the cookmaid gets equal billing.
2. North America’s bison survived near-extinction, but how much of its genetic diversity is left? Past and present DNA is helping reconstruct what was lost, with implications for how what remains is conserved and managed.
3. China’s wild rice collection in Hainan now holds more than 15,000 samples. A genetic treasure trove, but its value ultimately depends on what breeders can make of it. Much like what’s left of bison diversity.
4. Mycorrhizal fungi form vast underground networks that support plant life and store carbon. A new global map begins to show their extent, and just how much of this biodiversity remains overlooked.
5. Africa’s herbaria hold centuries of botanical history, much of it still effectively invisible. Specimens can reveal shifting plant distributions and overlooked species. First, though, someone has to do the painstaking work of getting the data online.
6. Africa has done painstaking work on seed laws, but getting good seed to farmers remains hard in practice. The gap between policy and delivery is stark, and commercial companies need to work alongside farmer-managed seed systems, not pretend they don’t exist.
Somewhat related
1. Ducks walking in a row The League for Pastoral Peoples and Endogenous Livestock Development has...
2. Organics examined David Zetland, the aguanomics blogger, has rounded up a couple...
3. Genebank data update I’ve decided to promote a couple of Nibbles from Monday...
Published on October 14, 2026

Somewhat related

Leave a Reply Cancel reply