Ancient Egyptian scribes and specific skeletal occupational risk markers (Abusir, Old Kingdom)
“Our research reveals that remaining in a cross-legged sitting or kneeling position for extended periods, and the repetitive tasks related to writing and the adjusting of the rush pens during scribal activity, caused the extreme overloading of the jaw, neck and shoulder regions.”
Brukner Havelková, P., Dulíková, V., Bejdová, Š. et al. Ancient Egyptian scribes and specific skeletal occupational risk markers (Abusir, Old Kingdom). Sci Rep 14, 13317 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-63549-z
Ancient DNA sheds light on the genetic origins of early Iron Age Philistines
“Our analysis suggests that this genetic distinction is due to a European-related gene flow introduced in Ashkelon during either the end of the Bronze Age or the beginning of the Iron Age. This timing is in accord with estimates of the Philistines arrival to the coast of the Levant, based on archeological and textual records (2–4).”
Michal Feldman et al., Ancient DNA sheds light on the genetic origins of early Iron Age Philistines. Sci. Adv.5, eaax0061 (2019). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aax0061
Superconvergence How the Genetics, Biotech, and AI Revolutions Will Transform Our Lives, Work and World by Jamie Metzl, 2024
In Superconvergence, leading futurist and OneShared.World founder Jamie Metzl explores how artificial intelligence, genome sequencing, gene editing, and other revolutionary technologies are transforming our lives, world, and future.
The Ancestors of Today’s Poles with the Haplogroup R1a
“Genetic studies proved the autochthonic theory of Polish origin to be true at least as by the 2nd century BCE or possibly about 2000 BCE. The Polish nobility’s myth was its Sarmatian origin, a myth that proved to be true partially culturally and partially genetically. The Scythian and Slavic peoples grow out of the same Indo-European genetic trunk, or
rather, they are branches of the same thicker limb.”
Wojciech J. Cynarski (2021). The Ancestors of Today’s Poles with the Haplogroup R1a. Sociology and Anthropology, 9(2), 19-25. DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.13189/sa.2021.090202
The Ancestors of Today’s Poles with the Haplogroup R1a
“Genetic studies proved the autochthonic theory of Polish origin to be true at least as by the 2nd century BCE or possibly about 2000 BCE. The Polish nobility’s myth was its Sarmatian origin, a myth that proved to be true partially culturally and partially genetically. The Scythian and Slavic peoples
grow out of the same Indo-European genetic trunk, or
rather, they are branches of the same thicker limb.”
Wojciech J. Cynarski (2021). The Ancestors of Today’s Poles with the Haplogroup R1a. Sociology and Anthropology, 9(2), 19-25. DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.13189/sa.2021.090202
The Ancestors of Today’s Poles with the Haplogroup R1a
“Genetic studies proved the autochthonic theory of Polish origin to be true at least as by the 2nd century BCE or possibly about 2000 BCE. The Polish nobility’s myth was its Sarmatian origin, a myth that proved to be true partially culturally and
partially genetically. The Scythian and Slavic peoples
grow out of the same Indo-European genetic trunk, or
rather, they are branches of the same thicker limb.”
Wojciech J. Cynarski (2021). The Ancestors of Today’s Poles with the Haplogroup R1a. Sociology and
Anthropology, 9(2), 19-25. DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.13189/sa.2021.090202
Evidence for dynastic succession among early Celtic elites in Central Europe
“The historical and archaeological record leave no doubt that the development of culture and population in southwestern Germany was temporarily characterized by profound discontinuities, particularly during the third to first century BCE. The definitive end of the 2,000 years of relative genetic continuity from the Bronze throughout the Iron Age in southern Germany is marked by a sudden, sharp increase of Steppe-related ancestry during the Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages.”
Gretzinger, J., Schmitt, F., Mötsch, A. et al. Evidence for dynastic succession among early Celtic elites in Central Europe. Nat Hum Behav (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01888-7
Ancient genomes revealed the complex human interactions of the ancient western Tibetans
“Outside the Tibetan Plateau, the western Tibetan Plateau populations interacted with both South and Central Asian populations at least 2,000 years ago, and the South Asian-related genetic influence, despite being very limited, was from the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) migrants in Central Asia instead of the IVC populations from the Indus Valley.”
Congratulations to our student Jasper Matzat for successfully completing his project module in our lab. With bioinformatic approaches, he created a curated genome annotation for our model gastropod Physella acuta. His project title was “A genome annotation of Physella acuta and testing of the MAKER3 genome annotation pipeline”. We are currently preparing his results for publication, look forward to it! #ecology#evolution#genetics#bioinformatics#annotation#gastropods
"We present a set of large pedigrees, reconstructed using ancient DNA, spanning nine generations and comprising around 300 individuals. We uncover a strict patrilineal kinship system, in which patrilocality and female exogamy were the norm and multiple reproductive partnering and levirate unions were common. The absence of consanguinity indicates that this society maintained a detailed memory of ancestry over generations."
Gnecchi-Ruscone, G.A., Rácz, Z., Samu, L. et al. Network of large pedigrees reveals social practices of Avar communities. Nature (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07312-4
"We present a set of large pedigrees, reconstructed using ancient DNA, spanning nine generations and comprising around 300 individuals. We uncover a strict patrilineal kinship system, in which patrilocality and female exogamy were the norm and multiple reproductive partnering and levirate unions were common. The absence of consanguinity indicates that this society maintained a detailed memory of ancestry over generations."
Gnecchi-Ruscone, G.A., Rácz, Z., Samu, L. et al. Network of large pedigrees reveals social practices of Avar communities. Nature (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07312-4
Just a reminder that, following the Royal Society event in Jan, my article 'Mendel's Closet: Genetics, Eugenics and the Exceptions of Sex in Edwardian Britain' has been made freely available until the end of Feb/LGBTQ+ History Month.
Today I'm writing about how sex selection emerged as one of the leading promises of 20th-c. biologists/eugenicists as they got to grips with sexological genetics. 😬
Ad for The Science of Life (by Julian Huxley, G. P. Wells, & H. G. Wells) in Popular Science Monthly (March 1931).
Gynandromorph bordered white moth from Charles Barrett's Lepidoptera of the British Isles (1901). 🦋
At 11am (GMT) next Wednesday (31 Jan) I will be discussing my article 'Mendel's Closet' as part of the Royal Society history of science seminar series. 🏳️🌈 🧬
I’m honored that Science reviewed my new book of science history and memoir, “Transient and Strange”… finding it “wry, charming, informative, and, indeed, sometimes strange”