Near Oceania Reveals DNA From Three Denisovan-like Ancestors
A Science study sequenced 177 Near Oceanian genomes and found their ancestors inherited DNA from three Denisovan-like groups, making Near Oceanians the populations with the most ancient human DNA. Denisovan DNA is about 14 times higher there than in East Asians, with Sepik Islanders showing up to 25 times more. Long isolation and bottlenecks over tens of thousands of years shaped their distinct genomes, and some archaic variants appear to influence immune pathways today (e.g., TRPS1, OAS1, JAK1, GBP2), possibly affecting malaria resistance and antiviral responses. The team analyzed over 1.8 billion bases, noting multiple, independent introgression events, and conducted functional tests on 22,000 variants to confirm gene activity changes. Published in Science (2026) with ongoing work to time the events and link variants to health outcomes.
