German researchers publish full Neanderthal genome

Researchers in Germany said Tuesday they have completed the first high-quality sequencing of a Neanderthal genome and are making it freely available online for other scientists to study.

The genome produced from remains of a toe bone found in a Siberian cave is far more detailed than a previous "draft" Neanderthal genome sequenced three years ago by the same team at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.

"This allows even the small differences between the copies of genes that this Neanderthal individual inherited from its mother and father to be distinguished," the institute said in a statement.

The team led by geneticist Svante Paabo now hopes to compare the new genome sequence to that of other Neanderthals, as well as to that of a Denisovan - another extinct human species whose genome was previously extracted from remains found in the same Siberian cave.

"We will gain insights into many aspects of the history of both Neanderthals and Denisovans and refine our knowledge about the genetic changes that occurred in the genomes of modern humans after they parted ways with the ancestors of Neanderthals and Denisovans," Paabo said. The group plans to publish a scientific paper on the issue later this year.

In the meantime, the genome sequence is being made freely available so scientists elsewhere can conduct research on it, he said.

The announcement was welcomed by other researchers.

Wil Roebroeks, an archaeologist at Leiden University in the Netherlands who wasn't involved in the Leipzig study, said it was "exciting times" for comparative studies of humans and our closest extinct relatives.

By combining findings from genetics with studies of early diets, technology and physical anthropology of different human species, scientists would likely yield new insights into our evolutionary past soon, he said.

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German researchers publish full Neanderthal genome