Waking the dead: Scientists reconstruct nuclear genome of extinct human being
Wednesday, February 10, 2010 - 14:21
in Paleontology & Archaeology
For the first time, scientists have reconstructed the nuclear genome of an extinct human being. The innovative technique can help reconstruct human phenotypic traits of extinct cultures. It also allows for finding those contemporary populations most closely related to extinct cultures revealing ancient human expansions and migrations. Finally, the discovery improves our understanding of heredity and the disease risk passed down from our ancestors. The spectacular findings are being published in Nature.