Ancient (11 500 years) human DNA

Alaska discovery rewrites the human story

An infant’s bones that had lain undisturbed for 11,500 years in Alaska have shed new light on the ancient humans that crossed to North America over a land bridge from Asia. Researchers managed to sequence the remains' DNA, which gave them second-oldest human genome ever found on the continent. It indicates that there was a previously unknown population that diverged genetically from the ancestors of Native Americans about 20,000 years ago.

The New York Times | 10 min read Reference: Nature paper