Over the last two million years or so, human ancestors spread from our origin in Africa to populate the entire world. In the process, isolation and selection produced a tremendous wealth of variation among humans. Genetic research shows that the division of humans into a handful of “races” is artificial – the product of cultural and political influences. In actuality, human diversity is fractal, showing similar complex patterns at every level from the tribe to the globe.


Allen Gathman has a Ph.D. in genetics from the University of Arizona. He taught in the biology department at Southeast Missouri State University for 26 years before crossing to the dark side and becoming an administrator. His research focused on genomics of fungi, and he has been published in journals such as Genetics and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx