Geneticist Svante Paabo demonstrated that DNA can be extracted from human fossils that are thousands of years old. His team was the first to sequence the complete genome of Neanderthals, our closest human relatives, and discovered that Homo Sapiens had sex and children with them. He also revealed the existence of a third, previously unknown human lineage, the Denisovans, thanks to genetic material extracted from a tiny bone of a girl who lived in a Siberian cave some 50,000 years ago.
And while the history of the combustion engines that eventually replaced horses is well understood, precisely how and when our ancestors transformed wild animals into docile and rideable domestic companions has been debated, pieced together from studies of ancient teeth and bones. But a new study of ancient DNA sheds light on how modern horses came to be, pinpointing key genetic changes that shaped their bodies and behavior, helping make the wild animals more docile and rideable.
Pathogens have been a constant threat to human health throughout our evolutionary history. Infectious diseases are estimated to have been responsible for more than half of all children deaths before age 15.
