DNA reveals we are all genetic mutts

His talk at the Science Center on Wednesday, “A Tale of Two Subcontinents: The Parallel Prehistories of Europe and South Asia,” was drawn from his new book, “Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past,” showing what recent studies have revealed about the prehistory of Europe and southern Asia. Reich “reshaped our understanding of human prehistory,” according to a New York Times profile last year, with the publication of DNA from the genomes of 938 ancient humans — more than all other research teams working in the field combined. Reich began his lecture by explaining how his work is done: With recent advances in DNA sequencing, it is now possible to extract sequences from humans who lived tens of thousands of years ago by grinding skeletal remains — specifically parts of the ear where much DNA is concentrated — into a powder to be examined.

Source: news.harvard.edu