Tag: ancient DNA
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Ancient Teenage Girl’s 12,000-Year-Old Dwarfism Discovery in Italian Cave
New Clues from a Stone Age Skeleton Researchers have uncovered a remarkable glimpse into the life of a Stone Age teenager from Italy. A human femur and other skeletal remains, buried in a cave roughly 12,000 years ago, carried evidence of a rare genetic disorder that visibly affected the length of her limbs. A recent…
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Stone Age Dwarfism: 12,000-Year-Old Italian Teen
Unearthing a Stone Age Mystery in Italy Scientists have piercingly revisited a burial from roughly 12,000 years ago to understand how prehistoric communities looked after their youngest and most vulnerable members. In a cave in Italy, the skeleton of a teenage girl was found with a distinctive set of physical traits that pointed researchers toward…
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Life in fossil bones: what we can learn from tiny traces of ancient blood chemicals
Introduction: tiny traces, big revelations Fossil bones are more than long-dead skeletons. Within them lie faint chemical fingerprints—tiny traces of ancient blood components that survive for millions of years. By studying these remnants, scientists can infer physiology, diet, and even health patterns of creatures that no longer roam the planet. This field blends chemistry, biology,…
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Syphilis origins traced to prehistoric Americas
Uncovering a deep past: a genome from the ancient pathogen Researchers have long debated where syphilis, caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum, first took hold in human populations. A groundbreaking study now pushes the origin of this treponemal disease far back into the prehistoric Americas. By sequencing the genome of a 5,500-year-old Treponema pallidum specimen…
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Tracing the Deep Origins of Syphilis: New Genome Sheds Light on Treponema Pallidum in Prehistoric Americas
New Genetic Evidence Rewrites the Timeline of a Classic Disease Scientists have sequenced the genome of Treponema pallidum, the bacterium that causes syphilis, from a remarkably ancient source: a 5,500-year-old specimen found in Colombia. The research, which analyzes this prehistoric DNA, reveals that treponemal diseases—conditions caused by related bacteria including the one behind syphilis—trace deep…
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Syphilis Origins: Treponema Pallidum in Prehistoric Americas
New genomic evidence pushes back the timeline of syphilis in the Americas A remarkable new study sequencing the bacterium Treponema pallidum, the culprit behind syphilis, reveals a deep historical footprint of treponemal diseases in the Americas. By analyzing a 5,500-year-old specimen from Colombia, researchers have provided a window into how syphilis and related diseases emerged…
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Woolly Rhino Genome Found Hidden in Wolf Stomach: A Frozen 14,400-Year-Old Discovery
Unveiling an Extraordinary Ancient DNA Find In a remarkable snapshot of ancient life, scientists have recovered a complete woolly rhino genome from within the stomach of a frozen wolf puppy that lived about 14,400 years ago. This unusual archive of DNA, preserved by permafrost in northeastern Siberia, provides a rare window into the interactions between…
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Researchers recover a woolly rhino genome from inside a frozen wolf’s stomach
Discovery that reshapes our view of Ice Age ecosystems In a remarkable twist of paleogenomics, scientists have recovered a near-complete genome of a woolly rhino from within the gut of a frozen wolf cub preserved in permafrost. The find, which emerged from an autopsy of a 14,400-year-old puppy discovered by mammoth ivory hunters in northeastern…
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Woolly Rhino Genome Hidden in a Frozen Wolf’s Stomach: A Paleogenomics Breakthrough
Discovery and the Extraordinary Find In a remarkable turn of paleogenomics, researchers have recovered a woolly rhino genome from the gut of a frozen wolf pup discovered in northeastern Siberia. The mummified wolf, preserved in permafrost for about 14,400 years, offered a rare window into the ecosystems of late Ice Age Siberia and the complex…
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How 2025 Tipped the Scales in Understanding Human Evolution’s Greatest Mystery
Unraveling a 60,000-Year-Old Puzzle For years, researchers have clung to a single fragment of evidence that reshaped our understanding of human evolution: a pinkie finger bone about 60,000 years old. The 2009‑2010 discovery, followed by groundbreaking DNA analysis in 2010, sparked a scientific debate that would dominate paleoanthropology for more than a decade. Was this…