Sentence Correction

Neanderthals didn't live in Africa, which is why sub-Saharan African populations have no trace of Neanderthal DNA, but other populations share DNA with Neanderthals, as discovered by a paleogeneticist at the Max Planck Institute in Germany that sequenced the Neanderthal genome.

Having sequenced the Neanderthal genome, a paleogeneticist at the Max Planck Institute in Germany has concluded that any human whose ancestral group developed outside Africa has inherited DNA from Neanderthals; since Neanderthals didn't live in Africa, sub-Saharan African populations have no trace of Neanderthal DNA.

Neanderthals didn't live in Africa, which is why sub-Saharan African populations have no trace of Neanderthal DNA, but a paleogeneticist at the Max Planck Institute in Germany who sequenced the Neanderthal genome has concluded that other humans share DNA with Neanderthals.

After sequencing the Neanderthal genome, the Max Planck Institute in Germany where a paleogeneticist researched the Neanderthal-human link, has concluded that any human whose ancestral group developed outside Africa has inherited DNA from Neanderthals; since Neanderthals didn't live in Africa, sub-Saharan African populations have no trace of Neanderthal DNA.

The sequencing of the Neanderthal genome by a paleogeneticist at the Max Planck Institute in Germany has led to the conclusion that humans whose ancestral group developed outside Africa has inherited DNA from Neanderthals and sub-Saharan Africans have no trace of Neanderthal DNA due to Neanderthals not living in Africa.

ndqv wrote:A) "that sequenced ..." modifies "a palaegenetiscist", not the Institute
B) "any human whose ancestral group" is out of scope
C) Correct
D) A paleogeneticist, not "the Max Planck Institute" s not the one who discovered the fact".
E) Same with B

Choose C

ndqv wrote:now I understand why we should choose B. However, is "having sequence the Neanderthal genome" correct? Do we need a perfect tense here?

David@VeritasPrep wrote:Since this a Veritas Prep question I wanted to post the official explanation below.

Correct answer: (B)

Official Explanation: The original sentence contains a Modifier error. The relative clause beginning with "which" needs to describe Africa. The clause may not be used to describe the entire idea that "Neanderthals didn't live in Africa." The placement of "as discovered" allows for the inaccurate interpretation that Neanderthals were discovered by the scientist. There is another Modifier error where "That sequenced the Neanderthal genome" incorrectly modifies "the Max Planck Institute." Answer (B) is correct because it consists of two independent clauses separated by a semicolon, and "Having sequenced..." correctly modifies "a paleogeneticist." Answer (C) is incorrect because it still contains a Modifier error. The relative clause beginning with "which" needs to describe Africa. The clause may not be used to described the entire idea that "Neanderthals didn't live in Africa." Answer (D) is incorrect because it also still contains a Modifier error. "After sequencing the Neanderthal genome" should modify "a paleogeneticist" but is instead modifying "the Max Planck Institute." Answer (E) has an Agreement error and an Equivalent Elements error. The subject humans does not agree with the verb has [inherited DNA]. Elements in a series (two things were concluded) require parallel structure. The correct construction would be "the conclusion that humans......and that sub-Saharan Africans....."