The Neanderthal genome has been published.
German researchers have finished the first high-quality sequencing of our close relative’s genome.
A team from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany completed the sequencing and announced on Tuesday it would be publishing the genome online for free. The Neanderthal genome had been sequenced before, but the previous version sequenced three years ago was only considered a “draft.” This new, high quality sequencing is much more detailed.
“This allows even the small differences between the copies of genes that this Neanderthal individual inherited from its mother and father to be distinguished,” the institute announced in a statement.
The genome was sequenced from DNA taken from the remains of a Neanderthal toe found in a Siberian cave. Next up, the team will attempt to compare the new Neanderthal genome to other Neanderthals of different eras and regions.
Svante Paabo, a geneticist at the Max Planck Institute and leader of the research team, also hopes to compare the Neanderthal genome to that of a Denisovan, another close, extinct relative of humans. Denisovan remains were found in the same cave in southern Siberia as the Neanderthal remains that were sequenced. Paabo and his team plan to publish a research paper on the comparison this year.
“We will gain insights into many aspects of the history of both Neanderthals and Denisovans and refine our knowledge about the genetic changes that occurred in the genomes of modern humans after they parted ways with the ancestors of Neanderthals and Denisovans,” Paabo told Fox News.
