Ancient genomes of the Americas

Ancient duplication of cereal genomes.

Analysis of ancient human genomes

High-capacity sequencing technologies have dramatically reduced both the cost and time required to generate complete human genome sequences. Besides expanding our knowledge about existing diversity, the nature of these technologies makes it possible to extend knowledge in yet another dimension: time. Recently, the complete genome sequence of a 4,000-year-old human from the Saqqaq culture of Gre...

Comparative scaffolding and gap filling of ancient bacterial genomes applied to two ancient Yersinia pestis genomes

Yersinia pestis is the causative agent of the bubonic plague, a disease responsible for several dramatic historical pandemics. Progress in ancient DNA (aDNA) sequencing rendered possible the sequencing of whole genomes of important human pathogens, including the ancient Y. pestis strains responsible for outbreaks of the bubonic plague in London in the 14th century and in Marseille in the 18th c...

Improved Calibration of the Human Mitochondrial Clock Using Ancient Genomes

Reliable estimates of the rate at which DNA accumulates mutations (the substitution rate) are crucial for our understanding of the evolution and past demography of virtually any species. In humans, there are considerable uncertainties around these rates, with substantial variation among recent published estimates. Substitution rates have traditionally been estimated by associating dated events ...

Ancient mitochondrial DNA provides high-resolution time scale of the peopling of the Americas

The exact timing, route, and process of the initial peopling of the Americas remains uncertain despite much research. Archaeological evidence indicates the presence of humans as far as southern Chile by 14.6 thousand years ago (ka), shortly after the Pleistocene ice sheets blocking access from eastern Beringia began to retreat. Genetic estimates of the timing and route of entry have been constr...