Ancient DNA reveals pervasive directional selection across West Eurasia

Ancient DNA Shows That Human Evolution Never Slowed Down — It Sped Up After Farming

Learn more about new research that analyzed 16,000 ancient genomes and discovered that natural selection hasn’t slowed down.

'Human evolution didn't slow down; we were just missing the signal': Large DNA study reveals natural selection led to more redheads and less male-pattern baldness

Over the past 10,000 years, evolution in West Eurasia has been selecting for light skin, red hair and resistance to HIV and leprosy in humans, according to a new study.

Ten thousand years ago, human evolution went into overdrive

Ancient DNA reveals “massive” genetic shifts tied to rise of farming, wheels, and metal tools

Ancient DNA reveals pervasive directional selection across West Eurasia

Ancient DNA has transformed our understanding of population history1, but its potential to reveal as much about human evolutionary biology has not been realized because of limited sample sizes and the difficulty of distinguishing sustained rises in allele frequency increasing fitness—directional selection—from shifts due to migrations, population structure, or non-adaptive purifying or stabilizing selection2–7. Here we present a method for detec…

Ancient DNA Uncovers Widespread Selection in West Eurasia

Ancient DNA research has revolutionized our understanding of human population history, revealing intricate patterns of migration, admixture, and demographic change. However, the promise of ancient DNA to illuminate the evolutionary biology of our species—to unearth the selective forces that have shaped our genomes—has largely gone unfulfilled. This gap exists primarily because of the limited scale of ancient DNA datasets and the inherent difficu…

Massive ancient-DNA study reveals natural selection has accelerated in recent human evolution

Hundreds of genes selected in West Eurasia since farming began, many linked to health