DNA is the key to unlocking our ancient African past

Abstract

Each region of the world, and the human groups living in them, have unique histories of migration, genetic mixing (admixture) and adaptation that have shaped their past. While archaeology has been of extreme value in elucidating this complex, multifaceted past, the genesis of DNA studies has enriched their story, and now ancient DNA (aDNA) has helped answer even more questions surrounding our prehistory. aDNA offers a unique opportunity to access genetic variation of past populations and enables us to contextualize past populations in present-day genetic variation. By linking the past to the present in this way, we now have a deeper understanding of our prehistory, and how our genetic landscape has changed from the past to the present. However, the study of aDNA is complex and there are various factors that need to be considered to yield successful aDNA results.