Paper short abstract:

Denisova Cave, in the Altai Mountains of Russia, has produced an archaic human genome representing a population previously unknown to science. Here I discuss its relationship to other human populations and what its genes tell us about its biology.

Paper long abstract:

The recovery of whole genome evidence has begun to provide new evidence about the biology and dynamics of ancient populations. Denisova Cave, in the Altai Mountains of Russia, has produced several skeletal fragments with ancient DNA evidence, including one complete genome at high coverage. This individual represents a population previously unknown to science. Dating to roughly 50,000 years ago, the genome has approximately the same genetic difference from contemporary Africans as did Neandertals, but was quite distinct from them also. Here, I discuss the functional insights that have come from the Denisova genome, including details about the immune system, pigmentation, and genes involved in brain development. We can demonstrate that the Denisovans contributed some genes of important phenotypic effect to later populations, including genes related to immunity, while other genes exhibit distinctive changes in Denisovans that are not shared in living human samples. Today, people in island Southeast Asia including New Guinea, the Philippines, and Aboriginal Australians trace up to five percent of their ancestry to the ancient Denisovan population. I discuss the dynamics of this population, including its relationship with Neandertals and the subsequent population movements and interactions in East and Southeast Asia that may explain the present distribution of Denisovan ancestry.

DR. JOHN HAWKS: Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin—Madison, 5240 Social Science Building, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706-1393 USA. Emailjhawks@wisc.edu.