Neanderthal DNA Tracked in Icelanders’ Genomes

(Astrid Reitzel, Aarhus University)

According to a statement released by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, a team of scientists from Aarhus University, deCODE Genetics, and the Max Planck Society looked for fragments of Neanderthal DNA in the genomes of more than 27,000 Icelanders, combined what they found, and reconstructed at least 38 percent of a Neanderthal genome. When the researchers compared this DNA with other Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes, they found that the Neanderthal DNA in modern Icelanders is more similar to Neanderthal DNA found in Croatians than to Neanderthal DNA found in Russians.

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