Ancient DNA studies have been exploding in the last decades and have yielded a large range of provocative and revelatory interpretations, not just ...

Scientists at Georgia State University have used CRISPR gene editing to restore an ancient enzyme humans lost millions of years ago potentially reversing the buildup of uric acid that causes gout. Gout...

A vast new genetic study reveals a long-hidden population that endured droughts, migrations, and empire without ever disappearing.

Plague, leprosy, smallpox and other diseases didn't jump from animals to humans when we thought. Ancient DNA is revealing where they come from and how they changed history

A 200,000-year-old Denisovan genome hints at vanished populations and tangled hominin histories

In their new study an international team led by the University of Vienna reports the discovery and extraction of ancient DNA from a tiny 5 cm long Neanderthal bone found in the Crimean peninsula, shedding light on long-distance migrations during the Late Pleistocene period 40,000 - 50,000 years ago. The Neanderthal bone, called "Star 1", after the site from which it was excavated – Starosele Cave – was found using a biomolecular method that uses ancient proteins to determine if a bone belongs to humans or animals. Ancient DNA extracted from the bone showed that it was genetically closest related to Neanderthals from the Altai region of Siberia, over 3,000 kilometers away. Climate modelling suggests that Neanderthal groups probably migrated across the vast Eurasian steppes during a time of favourable climate. The study was published in PNAS.

Professor Brian Cox and our expert panel are talking all things ancient DNA. Over the past 50 years, new technology has allowed researchers to sequence and study centuries-old DNA taken from…

How the Sarmatians — once feared horsemen on the Roman frontier — became genetic ghosts in the heart of Europe.

Researchers have long been attempting to piece together the trek of Neanderthals from Europe into Asia around the Middle and Upper Paleolithic time periods. This time marks the eventual disappearance of Neanderthals and the transition to a Homo-sapien-dominated world. The archaeological site of Starosele on the Crimean Peninsula has been studied and identified as a likely site of Middle Paleolithic Neanderthal activity, although DNA evidence was lacking due to poor preservation and rarity of hominin bones.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

A 45,000-year-old fossil from Crimea hints at Neanderthal networks stretching thousands of kilometers across Ice Age Eurasia

In the summer of 1812, French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte led about half a million soldiers to invade the Russian Empire. But by December, only a fraction of the army remained alive. Historical records suggest that starvation, cold, and typhus led to their demise. In a new study publishing October 24 in the Cell Press journal Current Biology, a team of microbial paleogenomicists extracted DNA from the soldiers’ teeth and found no trace of typhus. Instead, they identified two pathogens known to cause enteric fever and relapsing fever—ailments which likely contributed to the army’s downfall.

New research suggests that two surprise pathogens were among the diseases that laid waste to the emperor’s vaunted Grande Armée.

In 1812, hundreds of thousands of men in Napoleon's army perished during their retreat from Russia. Researchers now believe a couple of unexpected pathogens may have helped hasten the soldiers' demise....

Disease-causing bacteria that have been recently discovered in the teeth of Napoleonic soldiers may have spurred the massive infantry’s demise during its retreat from Russia

Standards, Precautions, and Advances in Ancient Metagenomics

How a broken gene helped humanity survive the rise of agriculture—and still shapes our health today