Scientists “revive” Stone Age molecules

In a highly transdisciplinary study, scientists are rebuilding microbial natural products up to 100,000 years old

08-May-2023 - Breakthroughs in ancient genome reconstruction and biotechnology are now revealing the rich molecular secrets of Paleolithic microorganisms. In a new study published in Science, a transdisciplinary team of researchers led by the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection ...

Beethoven’s genome: New study reveals hereditary diseases and a family mystery

Scientists have sequenced the composer’s genome using five genetically matching hair locks

24-Mar-2023 - The study shows Beethoven was predisposed to liver disease, and infected with Hepatitis B, which – combined with his alcohol consumption – may have contributed to his death. Furthermore, DNA from modern relatives points to an extramarital ‘event’ in Beethoven’s paternal line. Johannes Krause, ...

1 million-year-old marine DNA found in Antarctic sediment

New technique helps decipher ‘who’ has lived in the ocean in the past and ‘when’

06-Oct-2022 - A new study led by the University of Tasmania – with the participation of the University of Bonn – discovered the oldest marine DNA in deep-sea sediments of the Scotia Sea north of the Antarctic continent. The material could be dated to one million years. Such old material demonstrates that ...

New method: Y chromosomes of Neandertals and Denisovans now sequenced

Neandertals have adopted male sex chromosome from modern humans

28-Sep-2020 - An international research team led by Martin Petr and Janet Kelso of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, has determined Y chromosome sequences of three Neandertals and two Denisovans. These Y chromosomes provide new insights into the relationships and ...

A bucket full of genes: pond water reveals tropical frogs

30-Aug-2018 - When a frog jumps into a pond, it inevitably leaves behind traces of its genetic material. Using water samples from the Bolivian lowlands, Senckenberg scientists were now able to demonstrate that the analysis of this so-called environmental DNA allows the reliable identification of the frog ...

DNA from extinct humans discovered in cave sediments

New method retrieve hominin DNA from cave sediments – even in the absence of skeletal remains

02-May-2017 - While there are numerous prehistoric sites in Europe and Asia that contain tools and other human-made artefacts, skeletal remains of ancient humans are scarce. Researchers of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, have therefore looked into new ways to get ...

New test for ancient DNA authenticity throws doubt on Stone Age wheat trade

09-Nov-2015 - A cooperation of scientists at the MPI for Developmental Biology in Tübingen and the MPI for Evolutionary Anthropology developed a new test to verify the authenticity of ancient DNA. They applied the test to a sample from submerged sediment off the Isle of Wight, thought to provide evidence of ...

DNA barcoding discloses diversity

06-Jul-2015 - LMU researchers have used DNA barcoding to elucidate the diversity of the sponge fauna found in Antarctic waters. The data provide new insights into the evolution of this poorly characterized group. Sponges constitute an important component of marine ecosystems in the waters around Antarctica. As ...

A relative from the Tianyuan Cave

Ancient DNA has revealed that humans living some 40,000 years ago in the area near Beijing were likely related to many present-day Asians and Native Americans

28-Jan-2013 - An international team of researchers including Svante Pääbo and Qiaomei Fu of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology sequenced nuclear and mitochondrial DNA that had been extracted from the leg of an early modern human from Tianyuan Cave near Beijing, China. Analyses of this ...