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DNA From Neanderthal Relative May Shake Up Human Family Tree

Posted by Soulskill on from the skeletons-in-the-closet dept.

sciencehabit writes: In a remarkable technical feat, researchers have sequenced DNA from fossils in Spain that are about 300,000 to 400,000 years old and have found an ancestor—or close relative—of Neanderthals. The nuclear DNA, which is the oldest ever sequenced from a member of the human family, may push back the date for the origins of the distinct ancestors of Neanderthals and modern humans.

2 of 61 comments (clear)

  1. Interesting science by CaptQuark · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is a great breakthrough in analyzing ancient human origins. It would be interesting to use this technique to gain more insight on the origins and migration patterns of early north and south american populations. The Bearing Sea land bridge and south american sea voyage origins are still very confusing and incomplete.

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  2. Re:Very cool research by ColdWetDog · · Score: 5, Informative

    If you're interested, Svante Paablo (Nice work with that Unicode, Slashdot) has a book about the science (and engineering) of paleo DNA sequencing. Pretty amazing hard core work.

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    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!