Everyone alive may carry DNA from a ‘ghost lineage’ of human ancestors
Scientists analyzing modern genomes may have found a long-lost branch of the human family tree
Recent research suggests that every human alive today may carry DNA from an unknown branch of the human family tree, dubbed a "ghost lineage." While anatomically modern humans share a common ancestor with other archaic hominins such as Neanderthals and Denisovans, these extinct relatives have left traces in modern genomes. However, the origins of the ghost lineage remain a mystery.
Researchers developed a new computational method called TRACE (Tracking Archaic Contributions via ARG Estimation) to analyze the DNA of modern humans from around the globe, discovering that 2% of non-African genomes contain traces of archaic ancestry. Most of this ancient DNA comes from Neanderthals and Denisovans, but a portion of it does not match any known archaic population.
This ghost lineage likely originated more than 500,000 years ago, predating the first major human migrations out of Africa. One of the regions affected by the ghost lineage contains the FOXP2 gene, which is associated with speech and language. While the findings are intriguing, further evidence is needed to confirm the existence of the ghost lineage.
This could come from other computational methods or the discovery of ancient DNA in sub-Saharan Africa, where no archaic hominin genomes have been found. If the ghost lineage is indeed confirmed, it would add a new chapter to our understanding of human evolution and the complexity of our ancestral relationships.
Written by urgent.news from Scientific American's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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