Mysteries surround the people who lived during the Bronze Age in Greece, which saw major innovations in trade, social structure and urbanization take place. Did they mingle on the genetic level? How are they related to modern-day Greeks? What did they look like? The latest story on the “In the light of evolution” outreach website takes you on a journey to learn how analyzing ancient DNA using bioinformatics can help answer these questions. The story is based on a study by the group of SIB’s Anna-Sapfo Malaspinas in which genomes of different individuals that lived in the regions surrounding the Aegean Sea around 3,000 BCE were analyzed. Welcome to the field of paleogenomics, which was recently put in the spotlight by Svaante Pääbo being awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize for Medicine.
Lightofevolution.org is a project of SIB scientists, training and outreach specialists that shares the intriguing findings and discoveries from the studies of evolution in the classrooms and to the general public, through interactive stories and games. Follow the project’s latest news on Facebook, twitter and Instagram.
