01.06.2010
HUMANS AND NEANDERTHALS INTERBRED AFTER ALL, ACCORDING TO ANALYSIS OF NEANDERTHAL GENOME
The first genome sequence from an extinct human relative is now available. Together with an international research team, scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig have put forward an initial version of the genome sequence of the Neanderthal, a human form which died out some 30,000 years ago. Initial analysis of four billion base pairs of Neanderthal DNA indicates that Neanderthals left their mark in the genomes of some modern humans. Says Svante Pääbo: “Neanderthals probably interbred with early modern humans before Homo sapienssplit up into different groups in Europe and Asia.”