NIH R01 · 2024
Identification and interpretation of introgressed hominin DNA in modern human genomes
Summary Over the past decade, advances in ancient DNA (aDNA) have provided striking new insights into human history, including conclusive proof that modern humans admixed with now extinct hominins, such as Neandertals and Denisovans. In the last cycle of funding, we pioneered methods to identify and interpret introgressed hominin DNA that still segregates in the genomes of modern humans. Analyses of these surviving archaic lineages shows that admixture among hominins was common, there was both positive and negative fitness consequences to gene flow, and introgressed sequences have functional and phenotypic effects. Despite these insights, there are many fundamentally important questions…
From the public funding record at NIH RePORTER. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.