Study Finds DNA from 'Ghost Ancestors' in All Humans
Researchers used a new genome method to trace 2 unknown archaic lineages, including one shared by all humans and another linked to Denisovans.
- Yesterday, UC Berkeley researchers published findings in the journal Science identifying DNA from unknown 'ghost' ancient human lineages within modern genomes.
- Unlike previous approaches relying on rare fossil DNA, this new method—TRACE—analyzes complete genomes from present-day humans to reconstruct ancient genealogical relationships.
- Every modern human carries about 0.5% to 1% of their genome from this ghost lineage, which likely split off from our branch more than 500,000 years ago.
- In Oceanian genomes, researchers identified about 0.002% super-archaic DNA likely introduced through interbreeding with Denisovans.
- Study co-author Villanea noted that "hybridization is the norm and not the exception," suggesting human evolution functioned as a complex network of mixing rather than a simple branching tree.
53 Articles
53 Articles
The history of human evolution may be even more complex than thought. A new study suggests that the DNA of modern humans contains traces of an unknown human population, an ancient ghost...
A human lineage that is considered a ghost could be present in our DNA, how is this possible?
Discovered in the human genome of DNA sequences inherited from 'ghost' ancestors that would cross with modern man before his dispersion out of Africa (ANSA)
Researchers discover DNA signs of two previously unknown ancestors – extinct human forms with no fossils or decoded DNA
According to a report from Euronews, scientists have uncovered genetic traces of two previously unknown human ancestors in the DNA of people alive today. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, identified stretches of mysterious DNA that point to extinct human groups never before documented by fossils or sequenced genomes—what the team calls “ghost ancestors.” […]
Scientists were searching for human ancestors.
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