Ancient DNA from the teeth of 14th-century Ashkenazi Jews in Germany already included genetic variations common in modern Jews

A German town needed to relocate a medieval graveyard to build a parking garage. A positive side effect: scientists got to sequence the DNA of Ashkenazi Jews who lived more than 600 years ago.

David Reich, Professor of Genetics and of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University • conversation
Nov. 30, 2022 • ~13 min

Our *Homo sapiens* ancestors shared the world with Neanderthals, Denisovans and other types of humans whose DNA lives on in our genes

Ancient DNA helps reveal the tangled branches of the human family tree. Not only did our ancestors live alongside other human species, they mated with them, too.

Joshua Akey, Professor at the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University • conversation
Oct. 7, 2022 • ~10 min

What’s next for ancient DNA studies after Nobel Prize honors groundbreaking field of paleogenomics

Thousands of ancient genomes have been sequenced to date. A Nobel Prize highlights tremendous opportunities for aDNA, as well as challenges related to rapid growth, equity and misinformation.

Mary Prendergast, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Rice University • conversation
Oct. 4, 2022 • ~8 min

Ancient DNA helps reveal social changes in Africa 50,000 years ago that shaped the human story

A new study doubles the age of ancient DNA in sub-Saharan Africa, revealing how people moved, mingled and had children together over the last 50,000 years.

Mary Prendergast, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Rice University • conversation
Feb. 23, 2022 • ~13 min

World’s largest ever DNA sequencing of Viking skeletons reveals they weren’t all Scandinavian

Invaders, pirates, warriors – the history books taught us that Vikings were brutal predators who travelled by sea from Scandinavia to pillage and raid their

Cambridge University News • cambridge
Sept. 16, 2020 • ~8 min

Ancient DNA is revealing the genetic landscape of people who first settled East Asia

By studying the DNA of people who lived in East Asia thousands of years ago, scientists are starting to untangle how the region was populated.

Melinda A. Yang, Assistant Professor of Biology, University of Richmond • conversation
Sept. 15, 2020 • ~11 min

Humans domesticated horses – new tech could help archaeologists figure out where and when

Archaeologists have long argued over when and how people first domesticated horses. A decade ago, new techniques appeared to have provided answers – but further discoveries change the story again.

William Taylor, Assistant Professor and Curator of Archaeology, University of Colorado Boulder • conversation
March 2, 2020 • ~10 min

‘Game-changing’ research could solve evolution mysteries

An evolution revolution has begun after scientists extracted genetic information from a 1.7 million-year-old rhino tooth – the largest and oldest genetic data to ever be recorded.  

Cambridge University News • cambridge
Sept. 11, 2019 • ~5 min

DNA from 31,000-year-old milk teeth leads to discovery of new group of ancient Siberians

Two children’s milk teeth buried deep in a remote archaeological site in north eastern Siberia have revealed a previously unknown group of people lived there during the last Ice Age.

Cambridge University News • cambridge
June 5, 2019 • ~5 min

Harvard doctoral students describe projects at the cutting edge of evolutionary inquiry

Harvard doctoral students offered a glimpse of the future of evolutionary inquiry, outlining projects that touch on the human pelvis, butterfly hybrids, field and forest mice, and the mystery of an ancient pile of bones.

Alvin Powell • harvard
April 22, 2019 • ~9 min

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