Ancient human genome from southern Africa throws light on our origins

The skeletal remains discovered in St Helena Bay in 2010. Photo: Chris Bennett Photography

The skeleton of a man who lived 2,330 years ago in the southernmost tip of Africa tells us about ourselves as humans, and throws some light on our earliest common genetic ancestry.

What can DNA from the skeleton of a man who lived 2,330 years ago in the southernmost tip of Africa tell us about ourselves as humans? A great deal when his DNA profile is one of the 'earliest diverged' -- oldest in genetic terms -- found to-date in a region where modern humans are believed to have originated roughly 200,000 years ago.

The man's maternal DNA, or 'mitochondrial DNA', was sequenced to provide clues to early modern human prehistory and evolution. Mitochondrial DNA provided the first evidence that we all come from Africa, and helps us map a figurative genetic tree, all branches deriving from a common 'Mitochondrial Eve'. [...] sciencedaily.com  / Link 2

Journal Reference:
A. G. Morris, A. Heinze, E. K. F. Chan, A. B. Smith, V. M. Hayes. First Ancient Mitochondrial Human Genome from a Pre-Pastoralist Southern African. Genome Biology and Evolution, 2014; DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evu202

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