Distinct positions of genetic and oral histories: Perspectives from India.

Over the past decade, genomic data have contributed to several insights on global human population histories. These studies have been met both with interest and critically, particularly by populations with oral histories that are records of their past and often reference their origins. While several studies have reported concordance between oral and genetic histories, there is potential for tension that may stem from genetic histories being prioritized or used to confirm community-based knowledge and ethnography, especially if they differ.

Stable population structure in Europe since the Iron Age, despite high mobility.

Ancient DNA research in the past decade has revealed that European population structure changed dramatically in the prehistoric period (14,000-3000 years before present, YBP), reflecting the widespread introduction of Neolithic farmer and Bronze Age Steppe ancestries. However, little is known about how population structure changed from the historical period onward (3000 YBP - present). To address this, we collected whole genomes from 204 individuals from Europe and the Mediterranean, many of which are the first historical period genomes from their region (e.

A genetic history of continuity and mobility in the Iron Age central Mediterranean.

The Iron Age was a dynamic period in central Mediterranean history, with the expansion of Greek and Phoenician colonies and the growth of Carthage into the dominant maritime power of the Mediterranean. These events were facilitated by the ease of long-distance travel following major advances in seafaring. We know from the archaeological record that trade goods and materials were moving across great distances in unprecedented quantities, but it is unclear how these patterns correlate with human mobility.

Global Health Needs Modernized Containment Strategies to Prepare for the Next Pandemic.

COVID-19 continues to be a public health crisis, while severely impacting global financial markets causing significant economic and social hardship. As with any emerging disease, pharmaceutical interventions required time, emphasizing the initial and continuing need for non-pharmaceutical interventions. We highlight the role of anthropological and historical perspectives to inform approaches to non-pharmaceutical interventions for future preparedness.

Ancient Rome: A genetic crossroads of Europe and the Mediterranean.

Ancient Rome was the capital of an empire of ~70 million inhabitants, but little is known about the genetics of ancient Romans. Here we present 127 genomes from 29 archaeological sites in and around Rome, spanning the past 12,000 years. We observe two major prehistoric ancestry transitions: one with the introduction of farming and another prior to the Iron Age.

Waxy phenotype evolution in the allotetraploid cereal broomcorn millet: mutations at the GBSSI locus in their functional and phylogenetic context.

Waxy mutants, in which endosperm starch contains ~100% amylopectin rather than the wild-type composition of ~70% amylopectin and ~30% amylose, occur in many domesticated cereals. The cultivation of waxy varieties is concentrated in east Asia, where there is a culinary preference for glutinous-textured foods that may have developed from ancient food processing traditions. The waxy phenotype results from mutations in the GBSSI gene, which catalyzes amylose synthesis.

Lakeside cemeteries in the Sahara: 5000 years of holocene population and environmental change.

Background: Approximately two hundred human burials were discovered on the edge of a paleolake in Niger that provide a uniquely preserved record of human occupation in the Sahara during the Holocene ( approximately 8000 B.C.E.