ancient DNA
Ancient DNA is sequence information from the bones or tissues of organisms that come from historic or prehistoric collections. My work principally applies to prehistoric material, including skeletal material from Neandertals and Denisovans. Ancient DNA evidence on many kinds of organisms has become an important window into evolution.
Another look at selection and the Black Death
An exchange of comments probes the story of the EPAS2 gene, balancing selection, and resistance to Yersinia pestis.
Top 10 discoveries about ancient people from DNA in 2024
New resolution is emerging of some events in ancient human populations, and a clearer view of some parts of the genome.
Top 10 discoveries about ancient people from DNA in 2023
This year's highlights include ways of finding ancient relatives, how some phenotypes evolved in ancient people, and trace evidence from artifacts.
Ghostbusters of human origins
Humans tend to mix and interact with each other. Geneticists are once again starting to take that seriously, changing their view of our origins.
Solving the mystery of the Red Deer Cave people
New DNA evidence is revealing the genetic relationships of ancient groups from southern China, showing how they were connected to living people across the region.
Top 10 discoveries about ancient people from DNA in 2022
Research on ancient genomes has moved way beyond population mixture into broader questions about how ancient people lived and interacted with their environments.
Ancient genetic introgression between cave hyenas and spotted hyenas
Describing the results of genomic work by Michael Westbury and collaborators, including ancient hyena genomes from Eurasia and North America.
Research highlight: Making ancient DNA more ethical
I helped to draft a statement for the American Society of Human Genetics on responsible research on ancient DNA.
Why does ethical ancient DNA sampling seem so complicated?
Working with communities can be challenging but is essential to build a strong science of the past.
The genetic ancestry of modern lions
A comparison of surviving populations of lions in Africa and India with extinct lions, including cave lions from Siberia and Yukon.
Chicken ancient DNA and artificial selection during medieval times
A study on change in European chickens over time illuminates the challenge of studying selection in populations with immigration from other sources.
Research highlight: Use ancient remains more wisely
In this contribution, Keolu Fox and I consider what is necessary to build a sustainable science of ancient DNA.
Geneticists work to understand how skeletons wound up in a mysterious Himalayan lake
Reviewing new work that reveals migrants from several historic periods in the skeletons surrounding this lake in India.
How will ancient proteins change paleoanthropology?
Paleoproteomic methods may provide exciting avenues toward understanding pieces of fossils and their relationships.
Should archaeologists really fear and loathe geneticists?
An article in Nature focuses on the tension between archaeologists and ancient DNA specialists.
The so-called Toba bottleneck simply didn't happen
Prompted by a paper by Chad Yost and coworkers, I look at the persistent myth that humans were an endangered species only 74,000 years ago.
Secrets of the genome from Ust'-Ishim
A discovery from Siberia represents one of the earliest branches of modern humans to disperse into Eurasia.
New findings from the Denisova 3 genome at high coverage
Sequencing work by Matthias Meyer and coworkers highlights the demography of ancient Denisovans and genes that may make today's people different from them.
What is the temporal bone from Darra-i-Kur, Afghanistan?
A bone from a historic excavation in Afghanistan raises the topic of genetic reanalysis of fragmentary fossils.
