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mitochondrial DNA

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Part of a Denisovan mtDNA resides in the nuclear genomes of many living people

A paper last week by Robert Bücking and coworkers trawled through the recently-sequenced Indonesian Genome Diversity Project dataset looking for snippets of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) that have been inserted into the nuclear genome. These snippets, called “NUMTs”, arise every so often as a result of DNA transfer from the mitochondrion

A reproduction of the Denisova 3 finger bone sits on a chalk outline of a hand
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A mysterious mitochondrial sequence from Denisova Cave, Russia

A small fragment of finger bone with a DNA sequence that represents a previously-unknown form of hominin.

A fragment of finger bone upon a chalk outline of a hand skeleton