Thursday, November 16, 2006

New DNA Test Is Yielding Clues to Neanderthals

SCIENCE | November 16, 2006
New DNA Test Is Yielding Clues to Neanderthals
By NICHOLAS WADE

The archaic human species that dominated Europe until 30,000 years ago is about to emerge from the shadows. With the help of a new DNA sequencing machine that operates with firefly light, the bones of the Neanderthals have begun to tell their story to geneticists.

One million units of Neanderthal DNA have already been analyzed, and a draft version of the entire genome, 3.2 billion units in length, should be ready in two years, said Dr. Svante Paabo, the leader of the research project at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.

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