Evaluation of whole-genome enrichment and sequencing of from FFPE samples after 75 years.

The recent developments in genomic sequencing have permitted the publication of many new complete genome sequences of , the bacterium responsible for syphilis, which has led to a new understanding of its phylogeny and diversity. However, few archived samples are available, because of the degradability of the bacterium and the difficulties in preservation. We present a complete genome obtained from a Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded (FFPE) organ sample from 1947, kept at the Strasbourg Faculty of Medicine.

Sucrose Is Not the Whole Story: Risk Factors and Oral Health at the Contact (Yakutia, Siberia-16th/19th).

(1) Background: contact between indigenous and European populations has often resulted in changes in oral health attributed to the introduction of sucrose. Most studies are per tooth over considerable periods and with few ethnological references. (2) Aim: dental epidemiology of 96 autochthonous frozen bodies from Yakutia between the early 17th century and the late 19th century; comparisons with historical texts and ethnographic data.

The genetic legacy of legendary and historical Siberian chieftains.

Seventeen years of archaeological and anthropological expeditions in North-Eastern Siberia (in the Sakha Republic, Yakutia) have permitted the genetic analysis of 150 ancient (15th-19th century) and 510 modern individuals. Almost all males were successfully analysed (Y-STR) and this allowed us to identify paternal lineages and their geographical expansion through time. This genetic data was confronted with mythological, historical and material evidence to establish the sequence of events that built the modern Yakut genetic diversity.

Genetic evidence suggests a sense of family, parity and conquest in the Xiongnu Iron Age nomads of Mongolia.

In an effort to characterize the people who composed the groups known as the Xiongnu, nuclear and whole mitochondrial DNA data were generated from the skeletal remains of 52 individuals excavated from the Tamir Ulaan Khoshuu (TUK) cemetery in Central Mongolia. This burial site, attributed to the Xiongnu period, was used from the first century BC to the first century AD. Kinship analyses were conducted using autosomal and Y-chromosomal DNA markers along with complete sequences of the mitochondrial genome.

The petrous bone: Ideal substrate in legal medicine?

Over the last few years, palaeogenomic studies of the petrous bone (the densest part of the temporal bone) have shown that it is a source of DNA in both larger quantities and of better quality than other bones. This dense bone around the otic capsule has therefore been called the choice substrate in palaeogenomics. Because the practice of forensic genetics responds to different imperatives, we implemented a study aimed at (i) understanding how and why the petrous bone is an advantageous substrate in ancient DNA studies and (ii) establishing whether it is advantageous in forensic STR typing.

The limitations of kinship determinations using STR data in ill-defined populations.

The likelihood ratio (LR) method is commonly used to determine kinship in civil, criminal, or forensic cases. For the past 15 years, our research group has also applied LR to ancient STR data and obtained kinship results for collections of graves or necropolises. Although we were able to reconstruct large genealogies, some pairs of individuals showed ambiguous results.

Genetic kinship and admixture in Iron Age Scytho-Siberians.

Scythians are known from written sources as horse-riding nomadic peoples who dominated the Eurasian steppe throughout the Iron Age. However, their origins and the exact nature of their social organization remain debated. Three hypotheses prevail regarding their origins that can be summarized as a "western origin", an "eastern origin" and a "multi-regional origin".

New genetic evidence of affinities and discontinuities between bronze age Siberian populations.

Objectives: This work focuses on the populations of South Siberia during the Eneolithic and Bronze Age and specifically on the contribution of uniparental lineage and phenotypical data to the question of the genetic affinities and discontinuities between western and eastern populations.

Materials And Methods: We performed molecular analyses on the remains of 28 ancient humans (10 Afanasievo (3600-2500 BC) and 18 Okunevo (2500-1800 BC) individuals). For each sample, two uniparentally inherited systems (mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome DNA) were studied, in order to trace back maternal and paternal lineages.

The genetics of kinship in remote human groups.

For fifteen years, part of the work of our research team has been focused on the study of parental links between individuals living hundreds or thousands of years ago, whose remains have been found in single graves or large funerary complexes. These studies have been undertaken using methods developed by forensic genetics to identify individuals, mainly based on the genotyping of autosomal STR (Short Tandem Repeats). Issues arose from this work, namely the limits of studying small numbers of subjects, originating from groups of finite sizes where kinships cannot be inferred a priori and for which reference allelic frequencies do not exist.