Neanderthal DNA sequenced

A detailed analysis of Neanderthal DNA provides a unique insight into the genetic changes that accompanied the transition from early hominid to modern man. The study, reported in this week’s Nature, paves the way for a Neanderthal genome-sequencing effort.

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VOL.444 NO.7117 DATED 16 NOVEMBER 2006

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Evolution: Neanderthal DNA sequenced

A detailed analysis of Neanderthal DNA provides a unique insight into the genetic changes that accompanied the transition from early hominid to modern man. The study, reported in this week’s Nature, paves the way for a Neanderthal genome-sequencing effort.

Svante Pääbo and colleagues analysed over one million base pairs of DNA from a 38,000-year-old Neanderthal fossil, and compared the results against the human and chimpanzee genomes. The results suggest that Neanderthal and human DNA diverged around 500,000 years ago.

The data also suggest that the effective population size of the common ancestor of humans and Neanderthals was similar to that of contemporary humans. This suggests that earlier hominids, such as Neanderthals, may have expanded from small-sized populations, just like modern humans.

CONTACT

Svante Pääbo (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany)
Tel: +49 341 9952 501; E-mail: [email protected]

Ed Green, (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany)

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This author is traveling and it will be easiest to email with interview requests.

Please note this paper is linked to a paper to be published by the journal Science with the same embargo and publication time. For more information about this related paper please contact:
Natasha Pinol. Tel: +1 202 326 6440; E-mail: [email protected]

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Published: 15 Nov 2006

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