All articles tagged with #ancient dna
DNA from a 5,000-year-old tomb near Paris shows a dramatic population collapse around 3000 BC, after which the original megalith builders were largely replaced by newcomers from the south, accompanied by social changes and evidence of multiple crises including disease (plague) rather than a single cause.
Scientists retrieved ancient human DNA from calcite crusts on cave walls and pigment on rock art across 11 caves in Spain and Portugal, a first that could someday help identify the artists behind prehistoric paintings. DNA was found in 24 painted panels, though only a few samples yielded usable ancient DNA, and ages are uncertain—likely at least a couple of thousand years old. The DNA may have been deposited via saliva or fluids during art creation, and some samples from unpainted cave areas also contained human DNA. While it raises exciting possibilities, researchers caution that it isn’t yet sure the DNA belongs to the artists, and future work will refine methods and expand sampling to more sites.
A DNA study of Francesco I and Giovanni de’ Medici’s remains finds Plasmodium falciparum in both brothers and Plasmodium malariae in Francesco, confirming malaria—not poison—as the cause of death in 1587; researchers also identified a novel P. falciparum lineage in Giovanni, suggesting historic parasite movements across Europe during population growth. Published in iScience (2026) by Ochoa et al., the work aligns with Renaissance fever records and highlights how ancient DNA clarifies the history of one of humanity’s oldest diseases.
An international team analyzed the 16th‑century remains of Cardinal Giovanni de’ Medici and Grand Duke Francesco I and found DNA evidence of malaria parasites, confirming they died of malaria rather than poisoning; Francesco’s bones show infection with both P. falciparum and P. malariae, while Giovanni carried a novel P. falciparum strain. The work, published in iScience, provides insight into malaria’s evolution in Europe and suggests swampy Tuscany environments facilitated transmission in the Medici era.
Scientists demonstrated a nondestructive method to harvest cellular material from 91 parchment manuscripts dating back about 1,300 years, enabling next-generation sequencing to reveal genetic information about the animals used, farming practices, and trade networks without harming the artifacts.
Researchers analyzing cave-wall samples from Altamira, Escoural, and Covarrón found ancient human DNA preserved on pigment crusts and even unpigmented areas. Of 54 samples, five yielded authentic mitochondrial DNA (three women, one man, one unidentified), with some nuclear DNA linking individuals to Western Hunter-Gatherers. Preservation was rare (1 of 24 panels), suggesting cave walls can archive genetic traces of prehistoric visitors and offering a new, noninvasive way to study who touched the walls and how far Ice Age people ventured.
A Nature Communications study shows ancient human DNA can persist on cave walls for millennia, with five of 54 samples from 24 rock-art panels testing positive for human DNA. DNA was found on both painted and unpainted surfaces, as well as calcite crusts, suggesting direct deposition or sediment transport rather than solely artwork-related material. Two Covarón Cave samples yielded nuclear DNA linked to Western hunter-gatherers, while others contained both human and animal DNA; a bird-bone airbrush from Altamira yielded no ancient DNA due to modern contamination. The findings indicate cave walls can preserve traces of past visitors long after artworks were made, though preservation varies with mineral crusts and cave conditions. Researchers plan broader testing across more caves and styles to better understand who used caves and when.
A Nature study sequenced 27 Neanderthals from Belgium and France (plus a high-quality genome from a 45,000-year-old Goyet Cave individual) and found that late Neanderthals in northwestern Europe formed a connected regional population with close ties across the region. Belgian specimens show no signs of mating among close relatives, and none of the Neanderthal genomes carry recent human DNA, suggesting asymmetry with modern humans. There is no evidence that harmful mutations accumulated over time, indicating extinction was not simply due to genetic deterioration; the final chapter of Neanderthal life in this region remains open, highlighting regional diversity and connectivity prior to their disappearance around 40,000 years ago.
A new study of Neanderthal DNA from Belgium and France shows late Neanderthals in northwestern Europe were more genetically diverse and faced little inbreeding, existing as a large, interconnected population split into at least four groups. The genome from a high-quality Neanderthal sequence revealed no evidence of recent Neanderthal–modern human mating in these samples, suggesting that reduced genetic diversity and inbreeding were not the primary drivers of Neanderthal extinction. The findings imply multiple interconnected Neanderthal populations persisted across the region, challenging the idea that inbreeding alone doomed them.
A multinational team led by Hipólito Collado recovered human DNA over 2,000 years old from cave-wall surfaces in Spain and Portugal, showing rock surfaces can preserve genetic material and enabling archaeogenetic study of prehistoric populations. Analyzed 24 rock-art panels across 11 caves (including Escoural and Covarón); the findings, published in Nature Communications as part of the First Art project, suggest caves could act as biological archives for ancient humans.
A high-resolution genetic study of 27 late Neanderthals from Belgium and France shows low inbreeding and widespread population connectivity, arguing that genetic deterioration was unlikely the main cause of their extinction. The findings suggest a diverse, interconnected NW European Neanderthal population amid ecological pressures and demographic shifts, with limited evidence of Neanderthal-to-human DNA transfer and a largely asymmetric flow of genes into modern humans.
Genome data from 27 late Neanderthals in the Meuse Basin and a high-coverage Goyet genome show northwestern European Neanderthals were a closely related, broadly connected population with limited kin-based inbreeding, no evidence of recent modern-human introgression, and greater connectivity than eastern Neanderthals. A GN1–Vindija relationship places these western Neanderthals in a shared population history around 54,000 years ago, while mtDNA reveals multiple lineages and Y chromosomes do not cluster by site. The results support an isolation-by-distance pattern rather than a single local group and find no clear rise in genetic load over time to explain extinction. Modern human ancestry in Eurasia appears linked to Vindija-like Neanderthals outside NW Europe; overall, western Neanderthals were diverse and interconnected in their final millennia.
A 27-Neanderthal genome study from Belgium and France shows late Neanderthals were genetically diverse and part of connected regional populations, challenging the idea of a single declining group; they carry no clear rise in harmful mutations, and while Neanderthals contributed DNA to modern humans, there was little reciprocal gene flow, highlighting regional extinction patterns and a more nuanced history.
Researchers sequenced 177 Near Oceanian genomes and found that 3,127 Denisovan-derived variants remain functional in modern humans, many affecting immune signaling (notably interferon-gamma). Some Papua New Guinean populations carry up to ~5% Denisovan ancestry, reflecting interbreeding with multiple Denisovan-related groups and underscoring the health relevance of archaic DNA.
A Nature study of ancient DNA from 46 individuals buried near Lake Baikal reveals two previously unknown Yersinia pestis strains, indicating two plague outbreaks about 5,600–5,300 and 5,100–4,900 years ago among hunter-gatherers. About 40% of the individuals carried plague DNA, suggesting significant mortality in small communities likely caused by pneumonic plague transmitted person-to-person; marmots may have been the reservoir. This pushes plague's emergence far earlier than previously thought and shows epidemics affected hunter-gatherer groups before farming communities appeared.