Neanderthal genome project

The Neanderthal genome project was an international effort to recover and sequence DNA from Neanderthal fossils, revealing their genetic relationship with modern humans.

Ancient DNA: Genetic material recovered from historical or archaeological remains, often fragmented and chemically damaged. Neanderthal fossils yielded the ancient DNA that the project analyzed.
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology: A Leipzig research institute studying human evolution through biological, linguistic, and cultural evidence. Its researchers led the project’s sequencing and analysis work.
Neanderthal admixture: Interbreeding between Neanderthals and ancestors of modern humans outside Africa. Genome comparisons revealed Neanderthal ancestry in many living human populations.
Out of Africa model: The model that modern humans arose in Africa and later dispersed to other continents. Neanderthal ancestry added interbreeding to a model once framed mainly as replacement.
Genome sequencing: The process of determining the order of nucleotide bases across an organism’s DNA. Sequencing methods converted extracted Neanderthal DNA into readable genomic data.
Svante Pääbo: A Swedish geneticist whose research established methods for recovering ancient DNA from human fossils. Pääbo directed the scientific effort that produced the Neanderthal draft genome.
Neanderthal introgression: The transfer of Neanderthal genetic variants into modern human populations through interbreeding. The project enabled researchers to trace Neanderthal-derived DNA in modern genomes.
Multiregional hypothesis: The hypothesis that modern humans evolved in multiple regions through ongoing gene flow among ancient populations. Genome results bear on how much archaic populations contributed to modern humans.
DNA contamination: The introduction of foreign DNA into a sample during collection, handling, or analysis. Modern human DNA contamination threatened the authenticity of fossil sequences.
Neanderthal mitochondrial genome: The sequence of mitochondrial DNA recovered from Neanderthal remains. Its earlier sequencing demonstrated that Neanderthal DNA could be recovered and studied.

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