This book is an exploration of how the transfer of genes between divergent lineages — through a diverse array of mechanisms — has affected, and continues to affect, humans. In particular, it is a journey into the data that support the hypothesis that Homo sapiens as well as those organisms upon which it depends for survival and battles against for existence are marked by mosaic genomes. This mosaicism reflects the rampant (as reflected by the proportion of organisms that illustrate this process) exchange of genetic material during evolutionary diversification. This is the underlying hypothesis ... More

This book is an exploration of how the transfer of genes between divergent lineages — through a diverse array of mechanisms — has affected, and continues to affect, humans. In particular, it is a journey into the data that support the hypothesis that Homo sapiens as well as those organisms upon which it depends for survival and battles against for existence are marked by mosaic genomes. This mosaicism reflects the rampant (as reflected by the proportion of organisms that illustrate this process) exchange of genetic material during evolutionary diversification. This is the underlying hypothesis for this book. The book follows in the various chapters that it also reflects the consistent observation made when the genomes of organisms are mined for genetic variation.