Latest news with #ancientDNA
The Independent
2 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Archaeologists finally crack origin mystery of Tibet's ‘ghost ancestors'
Archaeologists have discovered that the ancestors of the Tibetan people, including a mysterious group known as the 'ghost' population, came from China 's Yunnan province more than 7,100 years ago. Researchers say the discovery helps solve an important mystery about how humans spread across East Asia. Scientists studying ancient DNA from East and Southeast Asia know that humans started spreading across the continent at least 19,000 years ago and that they split into northern and southern branches early on. But there are significant gaps in our understanding of the genetic origin of modern populations such as the Tibetans. Tibetan people carry genes from northern East Asians but also from an unknown group – the 'ghost' population – which some archaeologists think may be linked to ancient humans such as the Denisovans or an early group of modern humans from Asia. Denisovans are 'an extinct group of archaic humans previously known mainly from remains discovered in Siberia and Tibet ', according to the European Research Council. Previous research has pointed to China 's Yunnan region as the key to understanding the origins of Tibetan as well as Austroasiatic populations, referring to ethnic communities in Southeast Asia who speak Austroasiatic languages like Vietnamese, Khmer, and Mon. Studies indicate that about 80 per cent of the genetic makeup of Tibetan people comes from northern Chinese populations who lived between 9,500 and 4,000 years ago. The ancestry of the remaining 20 per cent remains unclear and is referred to as Tibet 's 'ghost' population. In a new study, scientists sequenced DNA from over 125 individuals who lived in Yunnan between 7,100 and 1,500 years ago. They compared the ancient genomes to the DNA of modern Tibetans and found that one person who might belong to the 'ghost' group carried genes of both ancient and modern Tibetans. This 7,100-year-old individual from Yunnan was discovered to be as genetically distinct from most modern East Asians as a 40,000-year-old person from the area now known as Beijing, indicating a previously unknown Asian ancestry. Scientists say this individual is the first known potential representative of Tibet 's previously uncharacterised 'ghost' lineage. Researchers suspect this lineage likely diverged from other early Asian people over 40,000 years ago and managed to survive in southern regions due to more stable climates during the Ice Age. They discovered that a unique 'central Yunnan' ancestry, different from the known northern and southern East Asian groups, appeared some 5,500 years ago and helped shape the genes of people speaking Austroasiatic languages today. This ancestry seems to have emerged before the widespread adoption of agriculture in the region, suggesting demographic expansions likely preceded the spread of farming. The findings show that Yunnan was for long an important crossroads where different groups of people met and mixed. 'This study not only fills a critical gap in the genetic data of prehistoric populations in East and Southeast Asia but also identifies one of the Tibetan Plateau's 'ghost ancestors' for the first time from a genetic perspective,' researchers said.
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- General
- South China Morning Post
Chinese team traces ‘ghost ancestors' of modern Tibetans to Yunnan province
Chinese scientists have traced the origins of the 'ghost ancestors' of modern Tibetans to the southwestern province of Yunnan through analysis of ancient DNA Advertisement The origins of people living on the Tibetan Plateau – and how their ancestors migrated, adapted and settled in this cold, oxygen-poor land – have long been a mystery to the academic community. Now, in a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Science on Friday, a group of Chinese palaeontologists have verified a hypothesis that academics had speculated about but failed to test: an archaeological site in central Yunnan is one of the origins of populations on the Tibetan Plateau. 'This study not only fills a critical gap in the genetic data of prehistoric populations in East and Southeast Asia, but also identifies one of the Tibetan Plateau's 'ghost ancestors' for the first time from a genetic perspective,' the authors said. It is widely known that around 80 per cent of the genetic composition of Tibetan Plateau populations originates from northern Chinese populations dating back 9,500 to 4,000 years ago. Yet the origin of the remaining 20 per cent remains unknown, and is referred to as 'ghost ancestry' by the academic community. To decipher the secret, scientists from various Chinese institutions, including the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IVPP), the Yunnan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and Sichuan University set their sights on Yunnan.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Science news this week: Strange signals from space and Earth's leaking gold
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. From the world's oldest known human fingerprint to genetic discoveries made using 2.2 million-year-old tooth enamel, this week's science news has taught us a lot about our ancient ancestors. But we've also learned a lot about our own species. While exploring what appeared to be "trash" in a cave in Mexico, two spelunkers came across dozens of artifacts that may have been used in fertility rituals by a little-known culture that inhabited the region 500 years ago. Looking even further back in history, scientists uncovered clues about the rise and fall of the Maya civilization in ancient DNA from people buried up to 1,600 years ago in Honduras. And let's not forget the newly discovered "ghost" lineage from ancient China, whose identity was deciphered from a 7,100-year-old skeleton in the southwestern Yunnan province. Looking beyond our own species, and our planet, researchers have been left stumped by some mysterious signals from outer space. Astronomers have identified a mysterious space object, named ASKAP J1832-0911, that spits out pulses of radio waves and X-rays in two-minute bursts at regular intervals. However, unlike traditional pulsars, which spit out radio signals every few seconds or milliseconds, the newfound object emits its pulses at intervals of 44 minutes — a period that was previously thought to be impossible. These signals have left scientists scratching their heads, and unraveling this cosmic mystery could reveal previously unknown physics. Discover more space news —'Previously unimaginable': James Webb telescope breaks its own record again, discovering farthest known galaxy in the universe —NASA plans to build a giant radio telescope on the 'dark side' of the moon. Here's why. —Not 'Little Red Dots' or roaring quasars: James Webb telescope uncovers new kind of 'hidden' black hole never seen before In the wild, parrots don't speak in human tongues; they communicate through a complex array of squeaks, squawks and whistles to find food and warn each other of potential dangers. Research has shown that these animals also use "signature contact calls" to refer to one another, similar to how we call each other by name. But in captivity, parrots don't have other flockmates to learn to speak "parrot" from. Instead, they use their highly specialized brains to pick up on human speech. But do they really understand what they are saying? Or are they merely masters of mimicry? At the center of our planet lies a vast reservoir of gold and precious metals, hidden beneath thousands of miles of rock. But new research suggests that, while it's unlikely we will ever be able to mine Earth's core, some of these metals might nonetheless make their way up to the surface. While studying volcanic rocks in Hawaii, scientists identified signs of a precious metal called ruthenium that they say could only have come from Earth's core-mantle boundary, located more than 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) below the planet's surface. The team believes that their findings indicate that gold and other precious metals may also be "leaking" from Earth's core into the mantle above. Discover more planet Earth news —There's a humongous boulder on a cliff in Tonga. Now we know how it got there. —Africa is being torn apart by a 'superplume' of hot rock from deep within Earth, study suggests —The land under South Africa is rising every year. We finally know why. —2 billion people could face chaotic and 'irreversible' shift in rainfall patterns if warming continues —Combo of cancer therapy drugs increases mice lifespan by 30% — but anti-aging benefits in humans remain unknown —Physicists capture 'second sound' for the first time — after nearly 100 years of searching —Giant 'senior citizen' sunspot on 3rd trip around the sun could break a century-old record "Megaconstellations" of private satellites are quickly becoming a reality, and that's a big problem for astronomers. Satellites release low levels of radiation in the form of radio waves. As the satellites crowd the outer reaches of our atmosphere, the invisible pollution they let off may disrupt signals from ground-based astronomy instruments, thus limiting our ability to read radio signals from the cosmos. "It would basically mean that no radio astronomy from the ground would be possible anymore," Benjamin Winkel, a radio astronomer at the Max Planck Institute of Radio Astronomy in Germany, told Live Science. "It will eventually reach a point where it is not worthwhile to operate a [radio] telescope anymore." At the rate that these megaconstellations are growing, this inflection point could be reached in the next 30 years. But what can be done to stop it? If you're looking for something a little longer to read over the weekend, here are some of the best long reads, book excerpts and interviews published this week. —NASA plans to build a giant radio telescope on the 'dark side' of the moon. Here's why. (Explainer) —'The Martian' predicts human colonies on Mars by 2035. How close are we? (Opinion) —Sleep: Facts about how and why we sleep (Fact file) Hawaii's Kilauea volcano, one of the most active in the world, has been erupting since December 2024. However, this week it did something very unusual. On May 25, the volcano spewed several enormous lava fountains, some shooting more than 1,000 feet (300 meters) into the air. Such "episodic" fountaining has not been seen since the eruption of Pu'u'ō'ō in the 1980s, experts from the U.S. Geological Society (USGS) wrote. As it erupts, the volcano has also released thousands of tons of toxic sulfur dioxide and strands of windblown volcanic glass, posing a significant threat to human health. Want more science news? Follow our Live Science WhatsApp Channel for the latest discoveries as they happen. It's the best way to get our expert reporting on the go, but if you don't use WhatsApp, we're also on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Flipboard, Instagram, TikTok, Bluesky and LinkedIn.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Ancient skeleton tests reveal how disease evolved
Researchers at the University of Bradford have taken part in analysis which has found how ancient DNA for a type of bacteria which causes a fever has evolved over thousands of years. Borrelia recurrentis bacteria causes relapsing fever, an illness with many recurring episodes of fever, which is typically found today in areas with poor sanitation or overcrowding, such as refugee camps. It is a distant cousin of the bacteria which causes Lyme disease. Working with the Francis Crick Institute and UCL on samples of archaeological human bone, researchers believe the work can help show how diseases might develop and change in the future. Four samples from across England tested positive for Borrelia recurrentis, caused by bacteria spread through the bites of lice rather than ticks. The samples, dating back to the medieval and Iron Age periods, were obtained from the skeletons of infected people. These included DNA from bone and teeth fragments from a female skeleton from Wetwang Slack, an Iron Age archaeological site in East Yorkshire, and fragments from remains found in Canterbury in Kent, Poulton in Cheshire and South Gloucestershire. Scientists manged to sequence the whole genome, an organism's complete set of DNA, from the four samples. Ranging from 2,300 to 600 years ago, their samples included the oldest Borrelia recurrentis genome to date. The research found how the relapsing fever spread from lice to ticks which may have coincided with changes in human lifestyles, such as living closer together and the beginning of the wool trade. Dr Jo Buckberry, from the University of Bradford's School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences, said: "It's really exciting to work with ancient DNA specialists, to identify diseases than we cannot see on the skeleton. "As we celebrate Bradford 2025 and reflect on our role in the historic wool trade, it's fascinating to know our archaeological research has contributed to the understanding of how the use of wool has changed the diseases affecting people in the past." Researchers looked at differences in the ancient and modern-day Borrelia recurrentis and found the species likely diverged from its nearest tick-borne cousin, about 4,000 to 6,000 years ago. The study also found a change from the bacteria's transmission from ticks to lice happened during the transition from the Neolithic, or New Stone Age, period to the Early Bronze Age. Pontus Skoglund, group leader of the Ancient Genomics Laboratory at the Francis Crick Institute, said: "Understanding how bacteria such as Borrelia recurrentis became more severe in the past may help us understand how diseases could change in the future. "The time points we've identified suggest that changes in human societies such as new clothing material or living in larger groups may have allowed Borrelia recurrentis to jump vectors and become more lethal, an example of how pathogens and humans have co-evolved." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North. Thousand-year-old skeletons found in hotel garden Left for dead again: Ancient Indian skeleton still waiting for permanent address The Francis Crick Institute UCL University of Bradford
BBC News
4 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Bradford researchers solve mystery of disease and wool trade
Researchers at the University of Bradford have taken part in analysis which has found how ancient DNA for a type of bacteria which causes a fever has evolved over thousands of recurrentis bacteria causes relapsing fever, an illness with many recurring episodes of fever, which is typically found today in areas with poor sanitation or overcrowding, such as refugee is a distant cousin of the bacteria which causes Lyme with the Francis Crick Institute and UCL on samples of archaeological human bone, researchers believe the work can help show how diseases might develop and change in the future. Four samples from across England tested positive for Borrelia recurrentis, caused by bacteria spread through the bites of lice rather than samples, dating back to the medieval and Iron Age periods, were obtained from the skeletons of infected included DNA from bone and teeth fragments from a female skeleton from Wetwang Slack, an Iron Age archaeological site in East Yorkshire, and fragments from remains found in Canterbury in Kent, Poulton in Cheshire and South manged to sequence the whole genome, an organism's complete set of DNA, from the four from 2,300 to 600 years ago, their samples included the oldest Borrelia recurrentis genome to date. The research found how the relapsing fever spread from lice to ticks which may have coincided with changes in human lifestyles, such as living closer together and the beginning of the wool Jo Buckberry, from the University of Bradford's School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences, said: "It's really exciting to work with ancient DNA specialists, to identify diseases than we cannot see on the skeleton."As we celebrate Bradford 2025 and reflect on our role in the historic wool trade, it's fascinating to know our archaeological research has contributed to the understanding of how the use of wool has changed the diseases affecting people in the past." Researchers looked at differences in the ancient and modern-day Borrelia recurrentis and found the species likely diverged from its nearest tick-borne cousin, about 4,000 to 6,000 years study also found a change from the bacteria's transmission from ticks to lice happened during the transition from the Neolithic, or New Stone Age, period to the Early Bronze Skoglund, group leader of the Ancient Genomics Laboratory at the Francis Crick Institute, said: "Understanding how bacteria such as Borrelia recurrentis became more severe in the past may help us understand how diseases could change in the future."The time points we've identified suggest that changes in human societies such as new clothing material or living in larger groups may have allowed Borrelia recurrentis to jump vectors and become more lethal, an example of how pathogens and humans have co-evolved." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
