Genomes

Remains of individual "CRU001", a boy who died at or shortly before birth and was buried in Alto de la Cruz. Credit: Gobierno de Navarra/J.L. Larrion For many years, researchers at MPI-EVA have been collecting and analyzing ancient DNA from humans who lived during the past tens of thousands of years. Analyzing these data has allowed the researchers to trace the movement and mixing of people, and even to uncover ancient…

Recent research on tardigrades uncovers a complex genetic basis for their extreme resilience, challenging previous assumptions about their ecological adaptations and pointing to independent evolutionary events in their anhydrobiosis capability.Tardigrades may be nature’s ultimate survivors. While these tiny, nearly translucent animals are easily overlooked, they represent a diverse group that has successfully colonized freshwater, marine, and terrestrial environments on every continent, including Antarctica.Commonly known…

Skull of an individual of East African ancestral origin found in Viminacium, with the oil lamp featuring an eagle found in his tomb. Credit: Miodrag (Mike) GrbicA study exploring the Balkans’ genomic history reveals profound Anatolian and Slavic demographic influences during the first millennium, reshaping our understanding of the region’s past through a blend of archaeogenetics and historical data.A multidisciplinary study has reconstructed the genomic history of the Balkan Peninsula during the first millennium of the…

An international research team has uncovered the complex genomic history of the Balkan Peninsula during the Roman era and beyond, revealing a mix of Anatolian and Slavic influences. The study, combining ancient DNA analysis with historical and archaeological data, shows how migrations and the Roman Empire’s policies have shaped the genetic makeup of modern Balkan populations. Credit: SciTechDaily.comA multidisciplinary study reveals the Balkan Peninsula’s genomic history, highlighting the profound impact of Anatolian and…

Nutrient-sensing…

This photograph shows a Roman aqueduct that supplied water to Viminacium, a large Roman city. Credit: Carles Lalueza-Foz A multidisciplinary study has reconstructed the genomic history of the Balkan Peninsula during the first millennium of the common era, a time and place of profound demographic, cultural and linguistic change. The team has recovered…

View of the site Kaf Taht el-Ghar (KTG). Credit: Juan Carlos Vera A genomic analysis of ancient human remains from Morocco in northwest Africa revealed that food production was introduced by Neolithic European and Levantine migrants and then adopted by local groups. A research team from Sweden, Spain and Morocco present their results in Nature. In northwestern…

Humans have long seen themselves mirrored in other primates, with apes’ social behavior and cognitive abilities shedding light on our own. Now, two international teams have stared deeper into the mirror. By sequencing the genomes of more than 200 nonhuman primates, from palm-size mouse lemurs to 200-kilogram gorillas, they have come up with clues to human health and disease, and to the origin of our species. The genomes and their analyses, reported today in…

Scientists have reconstructed the genomes of microbes from the Stone Age, and used them to produce new molecules. The complex puzzle was pieced together from DNA fragments of bacteria on the teeth of ancient humans and Neanderthals.Using tools very similar to those in a modern dentist’s office, the team scraped calcified dental plaque, or tartar, off the teeth of 12 Neanderthal specimens and 34 human specimens, dating back as far as 100,000 years. Within that material are the fossilized remains of ancient bacteria, along…

Photo of grave. Credit: Nadezhda F. StepanovaThe migration of individuals from North Asia to North America across the Bering Sea is a well-established event in early human history. Despite this, the genetic composition of the people who inhabited North Asia during this time period has remained elusive due to a scarce number of ancient genomes obtained from this region. However, in a recent report published in Current Biology, researchers reveal genomes from ten individuals, some up to 7,500 years old, which shed light on…