Human evolution: a tale from ancient genomes
Open accessAbstract
The field of human ancient DNA (aDNA) has moved from mitochondrial sequencing that suffered from contamination and provided limited biological insights, to become a fully genomic discipline that is changing our conception of human history. Recent successes include the sequencing of extinct hominins, and true population genomic studies of Bronze Age populations. Among the emerging areas of aDNA research, the analysis of past epigenomes is set to provide more new insights into human adaptation and disease susceptibility through time. Starting as a mere curiosity, ancient human genetics has become a major player in the understanding of our evolutionary history.This article is part of the themed issue 'Evo-devo in the genomics era, and the origins of morphological diversity'.
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High-quality genomes are available for Neanderthals and Denisovans, allowing genomic comparison with anatomically modern humans, as well as genomes of several domesticated species that can be compared with their wild counterparts.
“Crucially, we now have high-quality genomes for our closest extinct relatives, the Neanderthals and Denisovans, allowing for genomic comparison with AMH [42], as well as genomes of several domesticated species, which can be compared with their wild counterparts [43].”
From Self-domestication in Homo sapiens: Insights from comparative genomics (2017) · cites this paper as [42]
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References 182 · Cited by 100
- Authors
- Llamas, B., Willerslev, E., & Orlando, L.
- Affiliations
- The University of Adelaide (AU)
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Orlando, Ludovic
- Venue
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
- Publisher
- The Royal Society
- Published
- 2017-02-05
- Volume
- 372
- Issue
- 1713
- Pages
- 20150484
- ISSN
- 0962-8436 (ISSN-L)
- 1471-2970
- PMC
- PMC5182416
- OpenAlex
- W2562932006
- Cited by
- 100
- References
- 182
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 43 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 1 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 1.03
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Adelaide Research & Scholarship (AR&S) (University of Adelaide) (submittedVersion)
- ANU Open Research (Australian National University) (submittedVersion)
- Griffith Research Online (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Danish Council for Independent Research, Natural Sciences (4002-00152B)
- Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF94)
- Villum Fonden (miGENEPI)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Forensic and Genetic Research
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Paleopathology and ancient diseases
- Keywords
- ancient DNA, human evolution, extinct hominins, population genomics, epigenomics, human adaptation, disease susceptibility, human history
- MeSH terms
- DNA, Ancient, Animals, Humans, Hominidae, Genome, Human, Evolution, Molecular
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