Science· 2017Q1
A high-coverage Neandertal genome from Vindija Cave in Croatia
- 802citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2017year
Short summary
A ~50,000-year-old female Neandertal genome from Croatia, sequenced to ~30-fold coverage, shows fewer genetic differences within her genome than modern humans, suggesting small Neandertal population sizes.
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Key points
- A ~50,000-year-old female Neandertal genome from Vindija Cave, Croatia, was sequenced to ~30-fold coverage.
- This Neandertal had fewer genetic differences between her two genome copies than modern humans, suggesting small Neandertal population sizes.
- This Croatian Neandertal is more closely related to Neandertals that mixed with non-African human ancestors than the Siberian Neandertal.
- This finding allows for the identification of 10-20% more Neandertal DNA in modern humans, including variants associated with diseases and cholesterol.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
To date, the only Neandertal genome that has been sequenced to high quality is from an individual found in Southern Siberia. We sequenced the genome of a female Neandertal from ~50,000 years ago from Vindija Cave, Croatia, to ~30-fold genomic coverage. She carried 1.6 differences per 10,000 base pairs between the two copies of her genome, fewer than present-day humans, suggesting that Neandertal populations were of small size. Our analyses indicate that she was more closely related to the Neandertals that mixed with the ancestors of present-day humans living outside of sub-Saharan Africa than the previously sequenced Neandertal from Siberia, allowing 10 to 20% more Neandertal DNA to be identified in present-day humans, including variants involved in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations, schizophrenia, and other diseases.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Science, 2017 · DOI ↗
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Field: Anthropology
AnthropologySocial Sciences