US EditionAncient Genomes From Southern Africa Reveal Distinct Human Lineage
- On Dec. 3, Mattias Jakobsson and colleagues released a Nature study sequencing genomes from 28 ancient individuals from southern Africa, finding people over 1,400 years ago had markedly different DNA.
- Genetic dating found the southern Africa group was genetically separate for at least 200,000 years, with key Homo sapiens-specific changes tracing back around 300,000 years and isolation lasting about 100,000 years.
- Detailed variant analyses show the prehistoric southern African population contains half of all human genetic variation and 79 gene-altering DNA variants linked to kidney-related genes, immune-function, and neuron-growth variants.
- The study repositions southern Africa at the center of human-origin debates, overturning eastern Africa models and showing about 80 percent of ancient DNA persists in modern San populations.
- Researchers say more high-quality ancient genomes are needed, and Jakobsson notes `The combination of distance and unfavorable conditions might have isolated the south` while adding `I think that it is certainly possible that humans evolved, at least partly, in multiple places`.
12 Articles
12 Articles
Southern Africa: Becoming Human in Southern Africa - What Ancient Hunter-Gatherer Genomes Reveal
Analysis - New genetic research is shedding light on some of the earliest chapters of our human history. In one of the largest studies of its kind, scientists analysed DNA from 28 individuals who lived in southern Africa between 10,200 and a few hundred years ago. The study provides more evidence that hunter-gatherers from southern Africa were some of the earliest modern human groups, with a genetic ancestry tracing back to about 300,000 years a…
Becoming human in southern Africa: what ancient hunter-gatherer genomes reveal
New genetic research is shedding light on some of the earliest chapters of our human history. In one of the largest studies of its kind, scientists analysed DNA from 28 individuals who lived in southern Africa between 10,200 and a few hundred years ago. The study provides more evidence that hunter-gatherers from southern Africa were some of the earliest modern human groups, with a genetic ancestry tracing back to about 300,000 years ago. Marlize…
Ancient Genomes Expose 200,000 Years of Human Isolation in Southern Africa
Learn how genomes from 28 ancient individuals show that Homo sapiens lived in southern Africa in near isolation for hundreds of millennia — preserving rare genetic variants that still exist today.
Live Science
Upstract'An extreme end of human genetic variation': Ancient humans were isolated in southern Africa for nearly 100,000 years, and their genetics are stunningly different
Ancient genomes from southern Africa show that people evolved in isolation for upward of 100,000 years.
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