NEW YORK — DNA from an infant who died in Alaska some 11,500 years ago is giving scientists the best look yet at the genetics of the ancestors of today’s native peoples of the Americas. Decoding the infant’s complete set of DNA let researchers estimate the timing of key events in the ancestral history of today’s Native Americans and indigenous peoples of Canada and Central and South America. The fetus was related to the infant, perhaps a cousin, but contained too little DNA for a full analysis of it. For example, they calculated that the ancestors completed their split from Asians by about 25,000 years ago. So her DNA allows a direct glimpse of the ancient population that led to today’s native peoples, said Jennifer Raff of the University of Kansas, who didn’t participate in the studyMuch of the research in this area has been based on DNA that tells only about a person’s maternal ancestors, she said.

Source: National Post January 03, 2018 18:00 UTC