Brothers under the skin

SINGAPORE – This bustling hub of modern Asia hardly seems the setting of a press conference that looks back at man’s past. But here we are, in a function room of the Raffles Hotel and talking about things primordial. As primordial (read: primeval) as mankind spawning from Africa around 60,000 years ago.

The event: National Geographic Channel’s (NGC) press conference for Journey of Man, touted as "the epic story of how humans populated Earth," to be aired Dec. 15, Sunday, 9 to 11 p.m. over NGC.

Before us is 33-year-old geneticist Dr. Spencer Wells, a genius on matters scientific and far from mundane. That’s as close as I can get to describing the technicalese he dishes out to us Asian journalists.

Around a year ago, Wells left his lab and decided to embark on a great journey across six continents and in 12 countries. His goal: to test his theory that man came from but one big family tree – which began in Africa long before the Ice Age changed the face of the Earth forever.

A cult leader, a mad scientist hooked on test tubes and strange, Einstein-like formulae? Far from it. Wells does not tick off Mendelian theories like some bookish automaton. Nor does he wear thick eyeglasses like intellectuals do.

Wells – with his boyish looks and easy smile – could pass off for a Hollywood actor himself. But the only film camera he has worked with so far is a traveling one for his two-hour special. The only script he has touched does not consist of lines for some movie, but sequence guides chronicling his encounters with the San Bushmen in Africa, the aborigines in Australia (two of whom went all the way to Suntec City Mall for the Journey of Man exhibit), The Chukchis of Siberia, the Navajo tribe of North America.

They are the main actors in an unfolding drama the adventurous Wells is presenting to millions of National Geographic Channel viewers, his living proofs that yes, we are descended from African ancestors.

Huh, who me? Fairer of skin and straight of hair that I am, descended from dark-skinned, kinky-haired Africans?

Wells knows some people think he’s crazy. But he’s not out to twist your arms to make you believe.

Besides, he did not just get that theory from thin air. In fact, the National Geographic Society is supporting him in his efforts through a research grant. Which is just well for this father of two girls.

"Much of what I know was instilled in me since childhood by National Geographic. I have respect for them," he says.

At seven, this National Geographic fan found himself hanging out in the lab with his mother, a biologist, then studying for her Ph.d. When university beckoned when he was only 15, genetics struck him as "a tool for studying history."

He soon found out why himself. He took blood samples from men all over the world and studied Y or male chromosomes handed down from father to son (the male chromosome is never changed by being combined with a woman’s DNA).

Wells came up with startling findings. He and his colleagues discovered that "the blood of aborigines shows that they’ve inherited a very ancient marker from Africa, while Africans have no trace of aboriginal markers in their blood."

His conclusion: Men throughout the world today are related via distant ancestors in Africa.

Wells’ story so far: Around 10,000 humans, believed to be direct descendants of the first evolved homo sapiens, roamed the Earth 60,000 years ago. These people, called Bushmen by the colonizing Dutch, lived in Africa.

Then came the Ice Age. African deserts grew. Sea levels dropped. Caves on the South African coast became high and dry. Inland lush pastures turned to desert and prey became scarce.

It was do or die. There was no other way.

As you and I know by now, man survived. He did so by migrating out of Africa via two routes.

The first was Australia, where aborigines were traced up to 45,000 years ago. The second was via the Middle East, moving to India then China.

The huge caravan moved on and on, traversing Central Asia, Europe, Siberia and North America.

Journey of Man shows this journey through Wells’ keen eyes in vivid, moving images. It’s a two-hour travelogue through the heart of Australia, the biting cold of Siberia, and othe exotic places only an intrepid scientist dedicated enough to leave hearth and home in search of answers to nagging questions can take.

You may believe it. You may not. But you can at least watch it and marvel at the rich tapestry that is man’s culture as only Wells and National Geographic Channel can present it – comprehensive, factual and as vivid as only raw images can be.

Watch raw human emotion as a Kazakhstan man’s face shows utter surprise when Wells tells him DNA results show he’s a direct male descendant of a single Central Asian – ancestor of much of the world’s population.

Trek through the snow-covered Arctic Circle, where Wells traveled six hours by army tank to meet the nomadic Chukchi.

Thrill to the sights and sounds of Rio de Janeiro, India, and other places where Wells set foot on in a quest for answers about the past.

Meet people speaking in foreign tongues, dressed in attires you and I won’t get caught walking down the streets in.

The beauty of it all lies in the diversity around us – that one unique factor, says Wells, that makes us unique, interesting and oh-so-human. But while he thrills to the taste of different foods, and his heart skips a beat when he meets different people, Wells realizes he may be looking at the last vestiges of a culture, he loves so much.

"We’re losing a lot of diversity through globalization. We’re losing a lot of our indigenous culture. People are settling into cities and watching MTV. And this is making us very similar, culturally," he notes, a trace of regret in his voice.

We have not seen the last of Dr. Wells and his journey through man’s history. Expect to see more of him as he plans a sequel, this time working on a larger sample of humanity.

Still, this is not the end. Expect to see more of Wells as he plans to make a sequel, this time working on a larger sample of humanity.

After all, Dr. Spencer Wells’ journey through man’s history is an evolving one. And we, lucky spectators, need just sit back on our lounge chairs at home and turn on the set to National Geographic Channel as we take this journey through time with these intrepid explorers doing the walking for us.