DNA

A scientist on the great responsibility of using ancient DNA to rewrite human history 0
- From Around the Web, Science & Technology
- April 6, 2021
There are ethical and methodological pitfalls to avoid.

By David Aragorn
Ancient DNA sheds light on the peopling of the Mariana Islands 0
- Ancient Archeology, From Around the Web
- December 28, 2020
To reach the Mariana Islands in the Western Pacific, humans crossed more than 2,000 kilometers of open ocean, and around 2,000 years earlier than any other sea travel over an equally long distance. They settled in the Marianas around 3,500 years ago, slightly earlier than the initial settlement of Polynesia.

By David Aragorn
DNA tracks mysterious Denisovans to Chinese cave, just before modern humans arrived nearby 0
- Ancient Archeology, From Around the Web
- November 4, 2020
For today’s Buddhist monks, Baishiya Karst Cave, 3200 meters high on the Tibetan Plateau, is holy. For ancient Denisovans, extinct hominins known only from DNA, teeth, and bits of bone found in another cave 2800 kilometers away in Siberia, it was a home.

By David Aragorn
Scientists get hands dirty with research into medieval poop 0
- Ancient Archeology, From Around the Web
- October 10, 2020
Study seeks to compare microbiomes of our ancestors for clues to modern diseases

By David Aragorn
Scientists Sequence Y Chromosome DNA of Denisovans and Neanderthals 0
- Ancient Archeology, From Around the Web
- September 29, 2020
The genomes of our closest relatives, Neanderthals and Denisovans, have been sequenced and compared with that of modern humans. However, most archaic individuals with high-quality sequences available have been female. In new research, a team of geneticists from the United States, China and Europe has sequenced the paternally inherited Y chromosomes from three Neanderthals and two Denisovans; comparisons with archaic and modern human Y chromosomes indicated that, similar to the maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), the human and Neanderthal Y chromosomes were more closely related to each other compared with the Denisovan Y chromosome; this result supports the conclusion that interbreeding between early Homo sapiens and Neanderthals replaced the more ancient Denisovian-like Y chromosome and mitochondria in Neanderthals.

By David Aragorn
DNA data shows not all Vikings were Scandinavian 0
- Ancient Archeology, From Around the Web
- September 17, 2020
In the public imagination, the Vikings were closely-related clans of Scandinavians who marauded their way across Europe, but new genetic analysis paints a more complicated picture.

By David Aragorn
When did we become fully human? What fossils and DNA tell us about the evolution of modern intelligence 0
- Ancient Archeology, From Around the Web
- September 12, 2020
When did something like us first appear on the planet? It turns out there’s remarkably little agreement on this question.

By David Aragorn
Archaeologists Just Sequenced Some of The Oldest Neanderthal DNA Found in Europe 0
- Ancient Archeology, From Around the Web
- September 12, 2020
For tens of thousands of years, a Neanderthal molar rested in a shallow grave on the floor of the Stajnia Cave in what is now Poland. For all that time, viable mitochondrial DNA remained locked inside – and now, finally, scientists are discovering its secrets.

By David Aragorn
How Scientists Discovered the Staggering Complexity of Human Evolution 0
- Ancient Archeology, From Around the Web
- September 11, 2020
Darwin would be delighted by the story his successors have revealed

By David Aragorn
DNA-based nanotechnology stimulates potent antitumor immune responses 0
- From Around the Web, Science & Technology
- September 10, 2020
Synthetic DNA nanovaccines enhance killer T cell immunity resulting in tumor control in preclinical studies

By David Aragorn