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Peeling Back Time With 5,000 Ancient Human Genomes

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Friday, March 15, 2024

The Porsmose Man from the Neolithic Period, found in 1947 in Porsmose, Denmark. Credit: The Danish National MuseumFour research articles in Nature follow the genetic traces and geographical origins of human diseases far back in time. The analyses provide detailed pictures of prehistoric human diversity and migration, while proposing an explanation for a rise in the genetic risk for multiple sclerosis (MS).By analyzing data from the world’s largest data set to date on 5,000 ancient human genomes from Europe and Western Asia (Eurasia), new research has uncovered the prehistoric human gene pools of western Eurasia in unprecedented detail.The results are presented in four articles published in the same issue of Nature by an international team of researchers led by experts from the University of Copenhagen and contributions from around 175 researchers from universities and museums in the UK, the US, Germany, Australia, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, France, Poland, Switzerland, Armenia, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Italy. The many researchers represent a wide range of scientific disciplines, including archaeology, evolutionary biology, medicine, ancient DNA research, infectious disease research, and epidemiology. The research discoveries presented in the Nature articles are based on analyses of a subset of the 5,000 genomes and include:The vast genetic implications of a culturally determined barrier, which until around 4,000 years ago extended up through Europe from the Black Sea in the south to the Baltic Sea in the north.Mapping of how risk genes for several diseases, including type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease, were dispersed in Eurasia in the wake of large migration events over 5,000 years ago.New scientific evidence of ancient migrations explaining why the prevalence of multiple sclerosis is twice as high in Scandinavia than in Southern Europe.Mapping of two almost complete population turnovers in Denmark, within a single millennium.The 5,000 Ancient Human Genomes ProjectThe unprecedented data set of 5,000 ancient human genomes was reconstructed by means of analysis of bones and teeth made available through a scientific partnership with museums and universities across Europe and western Asia. The sequencing effort was achieved using the power of Illumina technology.The age of specimens ranges from the Mesolithic and Neolithic through the Bronze Age, Iron Age and Viking period into the Middle Ages. The oldest genome in the data set is from an individual who lived approximately 34,000 years ago.“The original aim of the ancient human genomes project was to reconstruct 1,000 ancient human genomes from Eurasia as a novel precision tool for research in brain disorders,” say the three University of Copenhagen professors, who in 2018 came up with the idea for the DNA data set, and originally outlined the project concept:Eske Willerslev, an expert in analysis of ancient DNA, jointly at the University of Cambridge, and the director of the project; Thomas Werge, an expert in genetic factors underlying mental disorders, and head of the Institute of Biological Psychiatry serving Mental Health Services in the Capital Region of Denmark; and Rasmus Nielsen, expert in statistical and computational analyses of ancient DNA, jointly at University of California, Berkeley, in the USA.The objective was to produce a unique ancient genomic data set for studying the traces and genetic evolutionary history of brain disorders as far back in time as possible to gain new medical and biological understanding of these disorders. This was to be accomplished by comparing information from the ancient DNA profiles with data from several other scientific disciplines.Among the brain disorders the three professors originally identified as candidates for this investigation were neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and multiple sclerosis, together with mental disorders such as ADHD and schizophrenia.In 2018, the three professors then approached the Lundbeck Foundation – a major Danish research foundation – for funding to compile the special DNA data set. They were awarded a five-year research grant totaling DKK 60 million (app. EUR 8m) for the project, which was to be coordinated at the University of Copenhagen via a newly established center, subsequently named the Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre.“The rationale for awarding such a large research grant to this project, as the Lundbeck Foundation did back in 2018, was that if it all worked out, it would represent a trail-blazing means of gaining a deeper understanding of how the genetic architecture underlying brain disorders evolved over time. And brain disorders are our specific focus area,” says Jan Egebjerg, Director of Research, Lundbeck Foundation. The Lundbeck Foundation is also supporting iPYSCH consortium, one of the largest studies globally of genetic and environmental causes of mental disorders such as autism, ADHD, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression, where the focus is also on making genetic risk profiles for these disorders as precise as possible.The results reported in Nature, were substantiated by comparing the ancient genomic data set with de-identified genetic data from the large Danish iPYSCH consortium and DNA profiles from 400,000 present-day individuals registered in UK Biobank.Many ChallengesThe premise for the project was experimental, recounts Professor Werge: “We wanted to collect ancient human specimens to see what we could get out of them, like trying to understand some of the environmental background to how diseases and disorders evolved. As I see it, the fact that the project took on such vast, complex proportions that Nature wanted it described in four articles is quite unique.”Professor Willerslev comments that compiling the DNA data set posed major logistical challenges: “We needed access to archaeological specimens of human teeth and bones that we knew were scattered around in museums and other institutions in the Eurasian region, and that called for many collaboration agreements. But once they were in place, things really took off – the data set was booming, and it now exceeds 5,000 ancient human genomes. The size of the data set has tremendously enhanced both the usability and precision of the results.Professor Nielsen was responsible for planning the statistical and bioinformatics analyses of the information gleaned from the ancient teeth and bones in laboratories at the University of Copenhagen. And he was dealing with an overwhelming volume of data, in which the DNA was often severely degraded.“No one had previously analyzed so many ancient genomes. Now we had to find out how to handle such vast data volumes. The problem was that the raw data is very difficult to work with because you end up with many short DNA sequences with many errors, and then those sequences have to be correctly mapped to the right position in the human genome. Plus, there is the issue of contamination from all the microorganisms present on the ancient teeth and bones. Imagine having a jigsaw puzzle consisting of millions of pieces mixed up with four other incomplete puzzle sets, and then running all that in the dishwasher for an hour. Piecing it all together afterwards is no easy task. One of the keys to our success in the end was that we teamed up with Dr. Olivier Delanau from the University of Lausanne who developed algorithms to overcome that very problem,” says Professor Nielsen.International InterestRumors that a large ancient human genome data set was being compiled were soon circulating in scientific circles. And since 2022 interest has been running very high, say Professors Werge, Willerslev, and Nielsen:“We are constantly taking inquiries from researchers all over the globe – especially those investigating diseases – who typically request access to explore the ancient DNA data set.”The four Nature articles demonstrate that the large 5,000 genomes data set serves as a precision tool capable of providing new insights into diseases when combined with analyses of present-day human DNA data and inputs from several other research fields. That in itself is immensely amazing, according to Professor Willerslev:“There’s no doubt that an ancient genomic data set of this size will have applications in many different contexts within disease research. As new scientific discoveries derived from the 5,000-genome data set become published, more data will gradually be made freely available to all researchers. Ultimately, the complete data set will be open access for everyone.”References:“Population genomics of post-glacial western Eurasia” by Morten E. Allentoft, Martin Sikora, Alba Refoyo-Martínez, Evan K. Irving-Pease, Anders Fischer, William Barrie, Andrés Ingason, Jesper Stenderup, Karl-Göran Sjögren, Alice Pearson, Bárbara Sousa da Mota, Bettina Schulz Paulsson, Alma Halgren, Ruairidh Macleod, Marie Louise Schjellerup Jørkov, Fabrice Demeter, Lasse Sørensen, Poul Otto Nielsen, Rasmus A. Henriksen, Tharsika Vimala, Hugh McColl, Ashot Margaryan, Melissa Ilardo, Andrew Vaughn, Morten Fischer Mortensen, Anne Birgitte Nielsen, Mikkel Ulfeldt Hede, Niels Nørkjær Johannsen, Peter Rasmussen, Lasse Vinner, Gabriel Renaud, Aaron Stern, Theis Zetner Trolle Jensen, Gabriele Scorrano, Hannes Schroeder, Per Lysdahl, Abigail Daisy Ramsøe, Andrei Skorobogatov, Andrew Joseph Schork, Anders Rosengren, Anthony Ruter, Alan Outram, Aleksey A. Timoshenko, Alexandra Buzhilova, Alfredo Coppa, Alisa Zubova, Ana Maria Silva, Anders J. Hansen, Andrey Gromov, Andrey Logvin, Anne Birgitte Gotfredsen, Bjarne Henning Nielsen, Borja González-Rabanal, Carles Lalueza-Fox, Catriona J. McKenzie, Charleen Gaunitz, Concepción Blasco, Corina Liesau, Cristina Martinez-Labarga, Dmitri V. Pozdnyakov, David Cuenca-Solana, David O. Lordkipanidze, Dmitri En’shin, Domingo C. Salazar-García, T. Douglas Price, Dušan Borić, Elena Kostyleva, Elizaveta V. Veselovskaya, Emma R. Usmanova, Enrico Cappellini, Erik Brinch Petersen, Esben Kannegaard, Francesca Radina, Fulya Eylem Yediay, Henri Duday, Igor Gutiérrez-Zugasti, Ilya Merts, Inna Potekhina, Irina Shevnina, Isin Altinkaya, Jean Guilaine, Jesper Hansen, Joan Emili Aura Tortosa, João Zilhão, Jorge Vega, Kristoffer Buck Pedersen, Krzysztof Tunia, Lei Zhao, Liudmila N. Mylnikova, Lars Larsson, Laure Metz, Levon Yepiskoposyan, Lisbeth Pedersen, Lucia Sarti, Ludovic Orlando, Ludovic Slimak, Lutz Klassen, Malou Blank, Manuel González-Morales, Mara Silvestrini, Maria Vretemark, Marina S. Nesterova, Marina Rykun, Mario Federico Rolfo, Marzena Szmyt, Marcin Przybyła, Mauro Calattini, Mikhail Sablin, Miluše Dobisíková, Morten Meldgaard, Morten Johansen, Natalia Berezina, Nick Card, Nikolai A. Saveliev, Olga Poshekhonova, Olga Rickards, Olga V. Lozovskaya, Olivér Gábor, Otto Christian Uldum, Paola Aurino, Pavel Kosintsev, Patrice Courtaud, Patricia Ríos, Peder Mortensen, Per Lotz, Per Persson, Pernille Bangsgaard, Peter de Barros Damgaard, Peter Vang Petersen, Pilar Prieto Martinez, Piotr Włodarczak, Roman V. Smolyaninov, Rikke Maring, Roberto Menduiña, Ruben Badalyan, Rune Iversen, Ruslan Turin, Sergey Vasilyev, Sidsel Wåhlin, Svetlana Borutskaya, Svetlana Skochina, Søren Anker Sørensen, Søren H. Andersen, Thomas Jørgensen, Yuri B. Serikov, Vyacheslav I. Molodin, Vaclav Smrcka, Victor Merts, Vivek Appadurai, Vyacheslav Moiseyev, Yvonne Magnusson, Kurt H. Kjær, Niels Lynnerup, Daniel J. Lawson, Peter H. Sudmant, Simon Rasmussen, Thorfinn Sand Korneliussen, Richard Durbin, Rasmus Nielsen, Olivier Delaneau, Thomas Werge, Fernando Racimo, Kristian Kristiansen and Eske Willerslev, 10 January 2024, Nature.DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06865-0“The selection landscape and genetic legacy of ancient Eurasians” by Evan K. Irving-Pease, Alba Refoyo-Martínez, William Barrie, Andrés Ingason, Alice Pearson, Anders Fischer, Karl-Göran Sjögren, Alma S. Halgren, Ruairidh Macleod, Fabrice Demeter, Rasmus A. Henriksen, Tharsika Vimala, Hugh McColl, Andrew H. Vaughn, Leo Speidel, Aaron J. Stern, Gabriele Scorrano, Abigail Ramsøe, Andrew J. Schork, Anders Rosengren, Lei Zhao, Kristian Kristiansen, Astrid K. N. Iversen, Lars Fugger, Peter H. Sudmant, Daniel J. Lawson, Richard Durbin, Thorfinn Korneliussen, Thomas Werge, Morten E. Allentoft, Martin Sikora, Rasmus Nielsen, Fernando Racimo and Eske Willerslev, 10 January 2024, Nature.DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06705-1“Elevated genetic risk for multiple sclerosis emerged in steppe pastoralist populations” by William Barrie, Yaoling Yang, Evan K. Irving-Pease, Kathrine E. Attfield, Gabriele Scorrano, Lise Torp Jensen, Angelos P. Armen, Evangelos Antonios Dimopoulos, Aaron Stern, Alba Refoyo-Martinez, Alice Pearson, Abigail Ramsøe, Charleen Gaunitz, Fabrice Demeter, Marie Louise S. Jørkov, Stig Bermann Møller, Bente Springborg, Lutz Klassen, Inger Marie Hyldgård, Niels Wickmann, Lasse Vinner, Thorfinn Sand Korneliussen, Morten E. Allentoft, Martin Sikora, Kristian Kristiansen, Santiago Rodriguez, Rasmus Nielsen, Astrid K. N. Iversen, Daniel J. Lawson, Lars Fugger and Eske Willerslev, 10 January 2024, Nature.DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06618-z“100 ancient genomes show repeated population turnovers in Neolithic Denmark” by Morten E. Allentoft, Martin Sikora, Anders Fischer, Karl-Göran Sjögren, Andrés Ingason, Ruairidh Macleod, Anders Rosengren, Bettina Schulz Paulsson, Marie Louise Schjellerup Jørkov, Maria Novosolov, Jesper Stenderup, T. Douglas Price, Morten Fischer Mortensen, Anne Birgitte Nielsen, Mikkel Ulfeldt Hede, Lasse Sørensen, Poul Otto Nielsen, Peter Rasmussen, Theis Zetner Trolle Jensen, Alba Refoyo-Martínez, Evan K. Irving-Pease, William Barrie, Alice Pearson, Bárbara Sousa da Mota, Fabrice Demeter, Rasmus A. Henriksen, Tharsika Vimala, Hugh McColl, Andrew Vaughn, Lasse Vinner, Gabriel Renaud, Aaron Stern, Niels Nørkjær Johannsen, Abigail Daisy Ramsøe, Andrew Joseph Schork, Anthony Ruter, Anne Birgitte Gotfredsen, Bjarne Henning Nielsen, Erik Brinch Petersen, Esben Kannegaard, Jesper Hansen, Kristoffer Buck Pedersen, Lisbeth Pedersen, Lutz Klassen, Morten Meldgaard, Morten Johansen, Otto Christian Uldum, Per Lotz, Per Lysdahl, Pernille Bangsgaard, Peter Vang Petersen, Rikke Maring, Rune Iversen, Sidsel Wåhlin, Søren Anker Sørensen, Søren H. Andersen, Thomas Jørgensen, Niels Lynnerup, Daniel J. Lawson, Simon Rasmussen, Thorfinn Sand Korneliussen, Kurt H. Kjær, Richard Durbin, Rasmus Nielsen, Olivier Delaneau, Thomas Werge, Kristian Kristiansen and Eske Willerslev, 10 January 2024, Nature.DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06862-3

Four research articles in Nature follow the genetic traces and geographical origins of human diseases far back in time. The analyses provide detailed pictures of...

Porsmose Man Neolithic Period

The Porsmose Man from the Neolithic Period, found in 1947 in Porsmose, Denmark. Credit: The Danish National Museum

Four research articles in Nature follow the genetic traces and geographical origins of human diseases far back in time. The analyses provide detailed pictures of prehistoric human diversity and migration, while proposing an explanation for a rise in the genetic risk for multiple sclerosis (MS).

By analyzing data from the world’s largest data set to date on 5,000 ancient human genomes from Europe and Western Asia (Eurasia), new research has uncovered the prehistoric human gene pools of western Eurasia in unprecedented detail.

The results are presented in four articles published in the same issue of Nature by an international team of researchers led by experts from the University of Copenhagen and contributions from around 175 researchers from universities and museums in the UK, the US, Germany, Australia, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, France, Poland, Switzerland, Armenia, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Italy. The many researchers represent a wide range of scientific disciplines, including archaeology, evolutionary biology, medicine, ancient DNA research, infectious disease research, and epidemiology.

The research discoveries presented in the Nature articles are based on analyses of a subset of the 5,000 genomes and include:

  • The vast genetic implications of a culturally determined barrier, which until around 4,000 years ago extended up through Europe from the Black Sea in the south to the Baltic Sea in the north.
  • Mapping of how risk genes for several diseases, including type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease, were dispersed in Eurasia in the wake of large migration events over 5,000 years ago.
  • New scientific evidence of ancient migrations explaining why the prevalence of multiple sclerosis is twice as high in Scandinavia than in Southern Europe.
  • Mapping of two almost complete population turnovers in Denmark, within a single millennium.

The 5,000 Ancient Human Genomes Project

The unprecedented data set of 5,000 ancient human genomes was reconstructed by means of analysis of bones and teeth made available through a scientific partnership with museums and universities across Europe and western Asia. The sequencing effort was achieved using the power of Illumina technology.

The age of specimens ranges from the Mesolithic and Neolithic through the Bronze Age, Iron Age and Viking period into the Middle Ages. The oldest genome in the data set is from an individual who lived approximately 34,000 years ago.

“The original aim of the ancient human genomes project was to reconstruct 1,000 ancient human genomes from Eurasia as a novel precision tool for research in brain disorders,” say the three University of Copenhagen professors, who in 2018 came up with the idea for the DNA data set, and originally outlined the project concept:

Eske Willerslev, an expert in analysis of ancient DNA, jointly at the University of Cambridge, and the director of the project; Thomas Werge, an expert in genetic factors underlying mental disorders, and head of the Institute of Biological Psychiatry serving Mental Health Services in the Capital Region of Denmark; and Rasmus Nielsen, expert in statistical and computational analyses of ancient DNA, jointly at University of California, Berkeley, in the USA.

The objective was to produce a unique ancient genomic data set for studying the traces and genetic evolutionary history of brain disorders as far back in time as possible to gain new medical and biological understanding of these disorders. This was to be accomplished by comparing information from the ancient DNA profiles with data from several other scientific disciplines.

Among the brain disorders the three professors originally identified as candidates for this investigation were neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and multiple sclerosis, together with mental disorders such as ADHD and schizophrenia.

In 2018, the three professors then approached the Lundbeck Foundation – a major Danish research foundation – for funding to compile the special DNA data set. They were awarded a five-year research grant totaling DKK 60 million (app. EUR 8m) for the project, which was to be coordinated at the University of Copenhagen via a newly established center, subsequently named the Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre.

“The rationale for awarding such a large research grant to this project, as the Lundbeck Foundation did back in 2018, was that if it all worked out, it would represent a trail-blazing means of gaining a deeper understanding of how the genetic architecture underlying brain disorders evolved over time. And brain disorders are our specific focus area,” says Jan Egebjerg, Director of Research, Lundbeck Foundation. The Lundbeck Foundation is also supporting iPYSCH consortium, one of the largest studies globally of genetic and environmental causes of mental disorders such as autism, ADHD, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression, where the focus is also on making genetic risk profiles for these disorders as precise as possible.

The results reported in Nature, were substantiated by comparing the ancient genomic data set with de-identified genetic data from the large Danish iPYSCH consortium and DNA profiles from 400,000 present-day individuals registered in UK Biobank.

Many Challenges

The premise for the project was experimental, recounts Professor Werge: “We wanted to collect ancient human specimens to see what we could get out of them, like trying to understand some of the environmental background to how diseases and disorders evolved. As I see it, the fact that the project took on such vast, complex proportions that Nature wanted it described in four articles is quite unique.”

Professor Willerslev comments that compiling the DNA data set posed major logistical challenges: “We needed access to archaeological specimens of human teeth and bones that we knew were scattered around in museums and other institutions in the Eurasian region, and that called for many collaboration agreements. But once they were in place, things really took off – the data set was booming, and it now exceeds 5,000 ancient human genomes. The size of the data set has tremendously enhanced both the usability and precision of the results.

Professor Nielsen was responsible for planning the statistical and bioinformatics analyses of the information gleaned from the ancient teeth and bones in laboratories at the University of Copenhagen. And he was dealing with an overwhelming volume of data, in which the DNA was often severely degraded.

“No one had previously analyzed so many ancient genomes. Now we had to find out how to handle such vast data volumes. The problem was that the raw data is very difficult to work with because you end up with many short DNA sequences with many errors, and then those sequences have to be correctly mapped to the right position in the human genome. Plus, there is the issue of contamination from all the microorganisms present on the ancient teeth and bones. Imagine having a jigsaw puzzle consisting of millions of pieces mixed up with four other incomplete puzzle sets, and then running all that in the dishwasher for an hour. Piecing it all together afterwards is no easy task. One of the keys to our success in the end was that we teamed up with Dr. Olivier Delanau from the University of Lausanne who developed algorithms to overcome that very problem,” says Professor Nielsen.

International Interest

Rumors that a large ancient human genome data set was being compiled were soon circulating in scientific circles. And since 2022 interest has been running very high, say Professors Werge, Willerslev, and Nielsen:

“We are constantly taking inquiries from researchers all over the globe – especially those investigating diseases – who typically request access to explore the ancient DNA data set.”

The four Nature articles demonstrate that the large 5,000 genomes data set serves as a precision tool capable of providing new insights into diseases when combined with analyses of present-day human DNA data and inputs from several other research fields. That in itself is immensely amazing, according to Professor Willerslev:

“There’s no doubt that an ancient genomic data set of this size will have applications in many different contexts within disease research. As new scientific discoveries derived from the 5,000-genome data set become published, more data will gradually be made freely available to all researchers. Ultimately, the complete data set will be open access for everyone.”

References:

“Population genomics of post-glacial western Eurasia” by Morten E. Allentoft, Martin Sikora, Alba Refoyo-Martínez, Evan K. Irving-Pease, Anders Fischer, William Barrie, Andrés Ingason, Jesper Stenderup, Karl-Göran Sjögren, Alice Pearson, Bárbara Sousa da Mota, Bettina Schulz Paulsson, Alma Halgren, Ruairidh Macleod, Marie Louise Schjellerup Jørkov, Fabrice Demeter, Lasse Sørensen, Poul Otto Nielsen, Rasmus A. Henriksen, Tharsika Vimala, Hugh McColl, Ashot Margaryan, Melissa Ilardo, Andrew Vaughn, Morten Fischer Mortensen, Anne Birgitte Nielsen, Mikkel Ulfeldt Hede, Niels Nørkjær Johannsen, Peter Rasmussen, Lasse Vinner, Gabriel Renaud, Aaron Stern, Theis Zetner Trolle Jensen, Gabriele Scorrano, Hannes Schroeder, Per Lysdahl, Abigail Daisy Ramsøe, Andrei Skorobogatov, Andrew Joseph Schork, Anders Rosengren, Anthony Ruter, Alan Outram, Aleksey A. Timoshenko, Alexandra Buzhilova, Alfredo Coppa, Alisa Zubova, Ana Maria Silva, Anders J. Hansen, Andrey Gromov, Andrey Logvin, Anne Birgitte Gotfredsen, Bjarne Henning Nielsen, Borja González-Rabanal, Carles Lalueza-Fox, Catriona J. McKenzie, Charleen Gaunitz, Concepción Blasco, Corina Liesau, Cristina Martinez-Labarga, Dmitri V. Pozdnyakov, David Cuenca-Solana, David O. Lordkipanidze, Dmitri En’shin, Domingo C. Salazar-García, T. Douglas Price, Dušan Borić, Elena Kostyleva, Elizaveta V. Veselovskaya, Emma R. Usmanova, Enrico Cappellini, Erik Brinch Petersen, Esben Kannegaard, Francesca Radina, Fulya Eylem Yediay, Henri Duday, Igor Gutiérrez-Zugasti, Ilya Merts, Inna Potekhina, Irina Shevnina, Isin Altinkaya, Jean Guilaine, Jesper Hansen, Joan Emili Aura Tortosa, João Zilhão, Jorge Vega, Kristoffer Buck Pedersen, Krzysztof Tunia, Lei Zhao, Liudmila N. Mylnikova, Lars Larsson, Laure Metz, Levon Yepiskoposyan, Lisbeth Pedersen, Lucia Sarti, Ludovic Orlando, Ludovic Slimak, Lutz Klassen, Malou Blank, Manuel González-Morales, Mara Silvestrini, Maria Vretemark, Marina S. Nesterova, Marina Rykun, Mario Federico Rolfo, Marzena Szmyt, Marcin Przybyła, Mauro Calattini, Mikhail Sablin, Miluše Dobisíková, Morten Meldgaard, Morten Johansen, Natalia Berezina, Nick Card, Nikolai A. Saveliev, Olga Poshekhonova, Olga Rickards, Olga V. Lozovskaya, Olivér Gábor, Otto Christian Uldum, Paola Aurino, Pavel Kosintsev, Patrice Courtaud, Patricia Ríos, Peder Mortensen, Per Lotz, Per Persson, Pernille Bangsgaard, Peter de Barros Damgaard, Peter Vang Petersen, Pilar Prieto Martinez, Piotr Włodarczak, Roman V. Smolyaninov, Rikke Maring, Roberto Menduiña, Ruben Badalyan, Rune Iversen, Ruslan Turin, Sergey Vasilyev, Sidsel Wåhlin, Svetlana Borutskaya, Svetlana Skochina, Søren Anker Sørensen, Søren H. Andersen, Thomas Jørgensen, Yuri B. Serikov, Vyacheslav I. Molodin, Vaclav Smrcka, Victor Merts, Vivek Appadurai, Vyacheslav Moiseyev, Yvonne Magnusson, Kurt H. Kjær, Niels Lynnerup, Daniel J. Lawson, Peter H. Sudmant, Simon Rasmussen, Thorfinn Sand Korneliussen, Richard Durbin, Rasmus Nielsen, Olivier Delaneau, Thomas Werge, Fernando Racimo, Kristian Kristiansen and Eske Willerslev, 10 January 2024, Nature.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06865-0

“The selection landscape and genetic legacy of ancient Eurasians” by Evan K. Irving-Pease, Alba Refoyo-Martínez, William Barrie, Andrés Ingason, Alice Pearson, Anders Fischer, Karl-Göran Sjögren, Alma S. Halgren, Ruairidh Macleod, Fabrice Demeter, Rasmus A. Henriksen, Tharsika Vimala, Hugh McColl, Andrew H. Vaughn, Leo Speidel, Aaron J. Stern, Gabriele Scorrano, Abigail Ramsøe, Andrew J. Schork, Anders Rosengren, Lei Zhao, Kristian Kristiansen, Astrid K. N. Iversen, Lars Fugger, Peter H. Sudmant, Daniel J. Lawson, Richard Durbin, Thorfinn Korneliussen, Thomas Werge, Morten E. Allentoft, Martin Sikora, Rasmus Nielsen, Fernando Racimo and Eske Willerslev, 10 January 2024, Nature.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06705-1

“Elevated genetic risk for multiple sclerosis emerged in steppe pastoralist populations” by William Barrie, Yaoling Yang, Evan K. Irving-Pease, Kathrine E. Attfield, Gabriele Scorrano, Lise Torp Jensen, Angelos P. Armen, Evangelos Antonios Dimopoulos, Aaron Stern, Alba Refoyo-Martinez, Alice Pearson, Abigail Ramsøe, Charleen Gaunitz, Fabrice Demeter, Marie Louise S. Jørkov, Stig Bermann Møller, Bente Springborg, Lutz Klassen, Inger Marie Hyldgård, Niels Wickmann, Lasse Vinner, Thorfinn Sand Korneliussen, Morten E. Allentoft, Martin Sikora, Kristian Kristiansen, Santiago Rodriguez, Rasmus Nielsen, Astrid K. N. Iversen, Daniel J. Lawson, Lars Fugger and Eske Willerslev, 10 January 2024, Nature.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06618-z

“100 ancient genomes show repeated population turnovers in Neolithic Denmark” by Morten E. Allentoft, Martin Sikora, Anders Fischer, Karl-Göran Sjögren, Andrés Ingason, Ruairidh Macleod, Anders Rosengren, Bettina Schulz Paulsson, Marie Louise Schjellerup Jørkov, Maria Novosolov, Jesper Stenderup, T. Douglas Price, Morten Fischer Mortensen, Anne Birgitte Nielsen, Mikkel Ulfeldt Hede, Lasse Sørensen, Poul Otto Nielsen, Peter Rasmussen, Theis Zetner Trolle Jensen, Alba Refoyo-Martínez, Evan K. Irving-Pease, William Barrie, Alice Pearson, Bárbara Sousa da Mota, Fabrice Demeter, Rasmus A. Henriksen, Tharsika Vimala, Hugh McColl, Andrew Vaughn, Lasse Vinner, Gabriel Renaud, Aaron Stern, Niels Nørkjær Johannsen, Abigail Daisy Ramsøe, Andrew Joseph Schork, Anthony Ruter, Anne Birgitte Gotfredsen, Bjarne Henning Nielsen, Erik Brinch Petersen, Esben Kannegaard, Jesper Hansen, Kristoffer Buck Pedersen, Lisbeth Pedersen, Lutz Klassen, Morten Meldgaard, Morten Johansen, Otto Christian Uldum, Per Lotz, Per Lysdahl, Pernille Bangsgaard, Peter Vang Petersen, Rikke Maring, Rune Iversen, Sidsel Wåhlin, Søren Anker Sørensen, Søren H. Andersen, Thomas Jørgensen, Niels Lynnerup, Daniel J. Lawson, Simon Rasmussen, Thorfinn Sand Korneliussen, Kurt H. Kjær, Richard Durbin, Rasmus Nielsen, Olivier Delaneau, Thomas Werge, Kristian Kristiansen and Eske Willerslev, 10 January 2024, Nature.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06862-3

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Granting legal ‘personhood’ to nature is a growing movement – can it stem biodiversity loss?

The rights-of-nature movement emerged as a response to economic pressures on ecosystems. But the success of projects depends on how well legal liability is defined.

Getty Images/Amy ToensingBiodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on giving legal rights to nature. Many Indigenous peoples have long emphasised the intrinsic value of nature. In 1972, the late University of Southern California law professor Christopher Stone proposed what then seemed like a whimsical idea: to vest legal rights in natural objects to allow a shift from an anthropocentric to an intrinsic worldview. Ecuador was the first country to enshrine rights of nature in its 2008 constitution. Since then, a growing number of countries have followed in awarding rights of nature. This includes Aotearoa New Zealand, where legal personhood was granted to the Whanganui River, the former national park Te Urewera and soon the Taranaki maunga. At its core, the rights-of-nature movement allows persons to take legal action on behalf of natural ecosystems, as opposed to on behalf of people affected by environmental degradation. Ecosystems can become separate entities with their own agency, in the same way other non-human entities such as charitable trusts and organisations can exist as separate entities in law. Read more: What if whales took us to court? A move to grant them legal personhood would include the right to sue But can the movement help stem the loss of biodiversity? There is no easy answer. Our new research shows that many rights-of-nature examples have emerged because current systems were not enough to protect nature from continued economic pressure from development. We find one of the key features of well designed rights-of-nature frameworks lies in defining who is ultimately liable, and what for. The Whanganui River in New Zealand was granted legal personhood in 2017. Shutterstock/Gabor Kovacs Photography Global case studies The design of rights-of-nature frameworks varies widely in geography, legal status, guardianship and who holds liability. We investigated 14 global rights-of-nature examples and categorised them by types of guardianship. For example, in 2008, Ecuador enshrined rights of nature in its constitution because of decades of pressure from large mining companies. This represents a type of public guardianship where every citizen has the right to take legal action on behalf of nature. In New Zealand on the other hand, the former national park Te Urewera was granted legal personhood with Tūhoe trustees as appointed guardians. A legal person is defined as an entity which has the capacity to enter into contracts, incur debts, sue and be sued in its own right, and to be accountable for illegal activities. We define rights-of-nature cases with appointed guardians as “environmental legal personhoods”. Read more: Rights for nature: How granting a river 'personhood' could help protect it We then compared these cases to explore why they emerged and how they are designed. Who advocated on behalf of the environment? What was the exploiting activity putting pressure on the ecosystem? What is the liability status of the guardians? We found that, overwhelmingly, Indigenous people and local communities acted as advocates. For example, the Whanganui River in New Zealand was granted legal personhood in 2017 as a result of hundreds of years of resistance by Indigenous Māori to aggressive colonisation. Since 1848, the Crown has introduced a steamer service, cleared forest from river banks, extracted sand and gravel, and diverted water into a power scheme. This led to ongoing conflict with Whanganui iwi who raised concerns about the river’s health and the desire to preserve the resource for future generations. Response to sustained economic pressure On the other side of the world, the Mar Menor lagoon in Spain was declared a legal person in 2022 due to strong local community advocacy against pollution from agriculture, mining and sewage. The evidence from our research points to a fundamental divide between local communities and external economic interests. The rights-of-nature movement has come as a response to sustained pressure from economic (urban, agricultural and industrial) activity. The features of design, however, vary significantly. For example, the Victorian state government in Australia established the Victorian Environmental Water Holder, an independent statutory body under the state’s Water Act 1989, as a legal person. It manages water entitlements to improve the health of rivers and wetlands. The entity acts indirectly on behalf of the ecosystems, which is not precisely the same as creating legal rights for rivers themselves. The Whanganui River, on the other hand, was itself declared a legal person. Its appointed guardians have the legal status of a charitable entity. This group includes representatives of Whanganui iwi and the government, supported by members of councils, locals, and recreational and commercial users. Liability matters The recent overturning of two rights-of-nature decisions in particular puts the spot light on the importance of liability. In the US, farming operations challenged the Lake Erie Bill of Rights in 2020, which granted Lake Erie the right to “exist, flourish and naturally evolve”. Farmers argued the bill was too vague and would expose them to liability from fertiliser runoff. In India, the Ganges and Yamuna rivers were granted living-person status, where injury to rivers was to be treated equally to injury to human beings. The decision was challenged on the grounds of uncertainty about who the custodians are and who would be liable to pay damage to the families of those who drowned in the rivers. Both these were legally overturned, meaning these natural entities no longer have rights of nature. This suggests attention to legally defining who is liability for what may be an important building block for the movement to protect biodiversity in the future. Our recommendation is that future rights-of-nature frameworks need to have well-defined legal rights and include appointed guardians, established as separate legal entities with limited liability, as well as the support of representatives from interest groups. This research was carried out in collaboration with my colleagues Claire Armstrong and Margrethe Aanesen in Norway. Viktoria Kahui does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Comet Geyser Biosignature Bonanza: NASA Perseverance Mars Rover’s 21st Rock Core

The recent acquisition of Perseverance’s 21st core sample, Comet Geyser, from Bunsen Peak reveals significant geological interest due to its composition of carbonate and silica—key...

Mastcam-Z image (Sol 1088, zcam05068) of the Comet Geyser core. The partially illuminated core is visible in this image of Perseverance’s coring bit. The diameter of the core is 1.3 cm. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASUThe recent acquisition of Perseverance’s 21st core sample, Comet Geyser, from Bunsen Peak reveals significant geological interest due to its composition of carbonate and silica—key minerals for preserving biosignatures.After investigating the high-standing bedrock at the Bunsen Peak workspace deep within the Margin Unit, the unique nature and composition of this rock was deemed worthy for collection of Perseverance’s 21th rock core sample, Comet Geyser!Bunsen Peak is named after a prominent peak in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA, and the namesake for Comet Geyser is the silica-sintered cone geyser also in Yellowstone National Park. Although this rock’s origin remains under investigation and the rover team continues to explore different hypotheses, this core is particularly exciting because it appears to be composed primarily of two minerals: carbonate and silica. Carbonate and silica are both excellent minerals for preserving biosignatures (ancient signs of life). These minerals also have the potential to record the environmental conditions in which they formed, making them important minerals for understanding the habitability of Jezero crater billions of years ago.This illustration depicts NASA’s Perseverance rover studying rocks with its robotic arm. Credit: NASA/JPL-CaltechThe presence of carbonate within the Comet Geyser sample suggests that water, carbon dioxide, and chemical elements derived from rocks or sediments in and around the ancient Jezero crater once reacted here to form carbonate. Carbonate minerals from Earth’s rock record are often used to reconstruct ancient climate—including conditions like temperature, precipitation, and aridity—and the history of life. Similarly, silica phases form when water interacts with rocks or sediments. The composition and crystallinity of silica can reveal the extent of the interaction with water, such as the intensity or duration of weathering and the pressure/temperature conditions during formation.On Earth, biosignatures can be preserved in carbonate and silica for millions of years, or even billions of years in the case of silica. Some of the oldest evidence we have of life on Earth is from rocks that contain fragments of microbial cells that were “permineralized” by silica, a fossilization process that entombs the residues of ancient life and protects them from degradation. Thus, rocks containing these materials are considered among the highest priority samples for investigating whether Jezero crater was once host to microbial life.Perseverance’s 21th core sample at Bunsen Peak represents a significant milestone toward a collection of a scientifically diverse set of samples for eventual return to Earth as part of the Mars Sample Return mission.With rock core #21 now onboard, Perseverance presses forward toward its next strategic objective of investigating a location called Bright Angel, which is a light-toned outcrop exposed in the ancient channel wall of Neretva Vallis. Challenges may arise on this journey, as the terrain ahead is littered with sharp boulders and sand that are proving difficult for the rover’s auto-navigation system. The mission’s rover planners are working hard to manually navigate this tricky terrain. In the meantime, the science team is eagerly anticipating the secrets the rocks of Bright Angel may hold!

Ancient DNA Decoded: Tracing Neurodegenerative Diseases to Prehistoric Herders

A significant study reveals that genes associated with multiple sclerosis were introduced to north-western Europe 5,000 years ago by migrating livestock herders, impacting modern susceptibility...

The new study has found the genes that significantly increase a person’s risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) were introduced into north-western Europe around 5,000 years ago by sheep and cattle herders migrating from the east. Credit: SayoStudioA significant study reveals that genes associated with multiple sclerosis were introduced to north-western Europe 5,000 years ago by migrating livestock herders, impacting modern susceptibility to the disease.Researchers have created the world’s largest ancient human gene bank by analyzing the bones and teeth of almost 5,000 humans who lived across Western Europe and Asia up to 34,000 years ago.By sequencing ancient human DNA and comparing it to modern-day samples, the international team of experts mapped the historical spread of genes – and diseases – over time as populations migrated. The ‘astounding’ results have been revealed in four trailblazing research papers published in the journal Nature and provide new biological understanding of debilitating disorders.The extraordinary study involved a large international team led by Professor Eske Willerslev at the Universities of Cambridge and Copenhagen, Professor Thomas Werge at the University of Copenhagen, and Professor Rasmus Nielsen at University of California, Berkeley, and involved contributions from 175 researchers from around the globe.The scientists found:The startling origins of neurodegenerative diseases including multiple sclerosisWhy northern Europeans today are taller than people from southern EuropeHow major migration around 5,000 years ago introduced risk genes into the population in north-western Europe – leaving a legacy of higher rates of MS todayCarrying the MS gene was an advantage at the time as it protected ancient farmers from catching infectious diseases from their sheep and cattleGenes known to increase the risk of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and type 2 diabetes were traced back to hunter gatherersFuture analysis is hoped to reveal more about the genetic markers of autism, ADHD, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depressionNorthern Europe has the highest prevalence of multiple sclerosis in the world. A new study has found the genes that significantly increase a person’s risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) were introduced into north-western Europe around 5,000 years ago by sheep and cattle herders migrating from the east.By analyzing the DNA of ancient human bones and teeth, found at documented locations across Eurasia, researchers traced the geographical spread of MS from its origins on the Pontic Steppe (a region spanning parts of what are now Ukraine, South-West Russia, and the West Kazakhstan Region).They found that the genetic variants associated with a risk of developing MS ‘traveled’ with the Yamnaya people – livestock herders who migrated over the Pontic Steppe into North-Western Europe.These genetic variants provided a survival advantage to the Yamnaya people, most likely by protecting them from catching infections from their sheep and cattle. But they also increased the risk of developing MS.“It must have been a distinct advantage for the Yamnaya people to carry the MS risk genes, even after arriving in Europe, despite the fact that these genes undeniably increased their risk of developing MS,” said Professor Eske Willerslev, jointly at the Universities of Cambridge and Copenhagen and a Fellow of St John’s College, an expert in analysis of ancient DNA and Director of the project.He added: “These results change our view of the causes of multiple sclerosis and have implications for the way it is treated.”The age of specimens ranges from the Mesolithic and Neolithic through the Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Viking period into the Middle Ages. The oldest genome in the data set is from an individual who lived approximately 34,000 years ago.The findings provide an explanation for the ‘North-South Gradient’, in which there are around twice as many modern-day cases of MS in northern Europe than in southern Europe, which has long been a mystery to researchers.From a genetic perspective, the Yamnaya people are thought to be the ancestors of the present-day inhabitants of much of North-Western Europe. Their genetic influence on today’s population of southern Europe is much weaker.Previous studies have identified 233 genetic variants that increase the risk of developing MS. These variants, also affected by environmental and lifestyle factors, increase disease risk by around 30 percent. The new research found that this modern-day genetic risk profile for MS is also present in bones and teeth that are thousands of years old.“These results astounded us all. They provide a huge leap forward in our understanding of the evolution of MS and other autoimmune diseases. Showing how the lifestyles of our ancestors impacted modern disease risk just highlights how much we are the recipients of ancient immune systems in a modern world,” said Dr William Barrie, a postdoc in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Zoology and co-author of the paper.Multiple sclerosis is a neurodegenerative disease in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks the ‘insulation’ surrounding the nerve fibres of the brain and spinal cord. This causes symptom flares known as relapses as well as longer-term degeneration, known as progression.Professor Lars Fugger, a co-author of the MS study professor and consultant physician at John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, said: “This means we can now understand and seek to treat MS for what it actually is: the result of a genetic adaptation to certain environmental conditions that occurred back in our prehistory.”Professor Astrid Iversen, another co-author based at the University of Oxford, said: “We now lead very different lives to those of our ancestors in terms of hygiene, diet, and medical treatment options and this combined with our evolutionary history means we may be more susceptible to certain diseases than our ancestors were, including autoimmune diseases such as MS.”The Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre – the resource underpinning the discoveriesThe new findings were made possible by the analysis of data held in a unique gene bank of ancient DNA, created by the researchers over the past five years with funding from the Lundbeck Foundation.This is the first gene bank of its kind in the world and already it has enabled fascinating new insights in areas from ancient human migrations, to genetically-determined risk profiles for the development of brain disorders.By analyzing the bones and teeth of almost 5,000 ancient humans, held in museum collections across Europe and Western Asia, the researchers generated DNA profiles ranging across the Mesolithic and Neolithic through the Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Viking period into the Middle Ages. They compared the ancient DNA data to modern DNA from 400,000 people living in Britain, held in the UK Biobank.“Creating a gene bank of ancient DNA from Eurasia’s past human inhabitants was a colossal project, involving collaboration with museums across the region,” said Willerslev.He added: “We’ve demonstrated that our gene bank works as a precision tool that can give us new insights into human diseases, when combined with analyses of present-day human DNA data and inputs from several other research fields. That in itself is amazing, and there’s no doubt it has many applications beyond MS research.”The team now plans to investigate other neurological conditions including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, and psychiatric disorders including ADHD and schizophrenia.They have received requests from disease researchers across the world for access to the ancient DNA profiles, and eventually aim to make the gene bank open access.The research was funded by a €8M grant from the Lundbeck Foundation, and conducted at the Lundbeck Foundation Geogenetics Centre at the University of Copenhagen.Jan Egebjerg, Director of Research at the Lundbeck Foundation, said: “The rationale for awarding such a large research grant to this project, as the Lundbeck Foundation did back in 2018, was that if it all worked out, it would represent a trail-blazing means of gaining a deeper understanding of how the genetic architecture underlying brain disorders evolved over time. And brain disorders are our specific focus area.”References:“Elevated genetic risk for multiple sclerosis emerged in steppe pastoralist populations” by William Barrie, Yaoling Yang, Evan K. Irving-Pease, Kathrine E. Attfield, Gabriele Scorrano, Lise Torp Jensen, Angelos P. Armen, Evangelos Antonios Dimopoulos, Aaron Stern, Alba Refoyo-Martinez, Alice Pearson, Abigail Ramsøe, Charleen Gaunitz, Fabrice Demeter, Marie Louise S. Jørkov, Stig Bermann Møller, Bente Springborg, Lutz Klassen, Inger Marie Hyldgård, Niels Wickmann, Lasse Vinner, Thorfinn Sand Korneliussen, Morten E. Allentoft, Martin Sikora, Kristian Kristiansen, Santiago Rodriguez, Rasmus Nielsen, Astrid K. N. Iversen, Daniel J. Lawson, Lars Fugger and Eske Willerslev, 10 January 2024, Nature.DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06618-z“The selection landscape and genetic legacy of ancient Eurasians” by Evan K. Irving-Pease, Alba Refoyo-Martínez, William Barrie, Andrés Ingason, Alice Pearson, Anders Fischer, Karl-Göran Sjögren, Alma S. Halgren, Ruairidh Macleod, Fabrice Demeter, Rasmus A. Henriksen, Tharsika Vimala, Hugh McColl, Andrew H. Vaughn, Leo Speidel, Aaron J. Stern, Gabriele Scorrano, Abigail Ramsøe, Andrew J. Schork, Anders Rosengren, Lei Zhao, Kristian Kristiansen, Astrid K. N. Iversen, Lars Fugger, Peter H. Sudmant, Daniel J. Lawson, Richard Durbin, Thorfinn Korneliussen, Thomas Werge, Morten E. Allentoft, Martin Sikora, Rasmus Nielsen, Fernando Racimo and Eske Willerslev, 10 January 2024, Nature.DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06705-1“Population genomics of post-glacial western Eurasia” by Morten E. Allentoft, Martin Sikora, Alba Refoyo-Martínez, Evan K. Irving-Pease, Anders Fischer, William Barrie, Andrés Ingason, Jesper Stenderup, Karl-Göran Sjögren, Alice Pearson, Bárbara Sousa da Mota, Bettina Schulz Paulsson, Alma Halgren, Ruairidh Macleod, Marie Louise Schjellerup Jørkov, Fabrice Demeter, Lasse Sørensen, Poul Otto Nielsen, Rasmus A. Henriksen, Tharsika Vimala, Hugh McColl, Ashot Margaryan, Melissa Ilardo, Andrew Vaughn, Morten Fischer Mortensen, Anne Birgitte Nielsen, Mikkel Ulfeldt Hede, Niels Nørkjær Johannsen, Peter Rasmussen, Lasse Vinner, Gabriel Renaud, Aaron Stern, Theis Zetner Trolle Jensen, Gabriele Scorrano, Hannes Schroeder, Per Lysdahl, Abigail Daisy Ramsøe, Andrei Skorobogatov, Andrew Joseph Schork, Anders Rosengren, Anthony Ruter, Alan Outram, Aleksey A. Timoshenko, Alexandra Buzhilova, Alfredo Coppa, Alisa Zubova, Ana Maria Silva, Anders J. Hansen, Andrey Gromov, Andrey Logvin, Anne Birgitte Gotfredsen, Bjarne Henning Nielsen, Borja González-Rabanal, Carles Lalueza-Fox, Catriona J. McKenzie, Charleen Gaunitz, Concepción Blasco, Corina Liesau, Cristina Martinez-Labarga, Dmitri V. Pozdnyakov, David Cuenca-Solana, David O. Lordkipanidze, Dmitri En’shin, Domingo C. Salazar-García, T. Douglas Price, Dušan Borić, Elena Kostyleva, Elizaveta V. Veselovskaya, Emma R. Usmanova, Enrico Cappellini, Erik Brinch Petersen, Esben Kannegaard, Francesca Radina, Fulya Eylem Yediay, Henri Duday, Igor Gutiérrez-Zugasti, Ilya Merts, Inna Potekhina, Irina Shevnina, Isin Altinkaya, Jean Guilaine, Jesper Hansen, Joan Emili Aura Tortosa, João Zilhão, Jorge Vega, Kristoffer Buck Pedersen, Krzysztof Tunia, Lei Zhao, Liudmila N. Mylnikova, Lars Larsson, Laure Metz, Levon Yepiskoposyan, Lisbeth Pedersen, Lucia Sarti, Ludovic Orlando, Ludovic Slimak, Lutz Klassen, Malou Blank, Manuel González-Morales, Mara Silvestrini, Maria Vretemark, Marina S. Nesterova, Marina Rykun, Mario Federico Rolfo, Marzena Szmyt, Marcin Przybyła, Mauro Calattini, Mikhail Sablin, Miluše Dobisíková, Morten Meldgaard, Morten Johansen, Natalia Berezina, Nick Card, Nikolai A. Saveliev, Olga Poshekhonova, Olga Rickards, Olga V. Lozovskaya, Olivér Gábor, Otto Christian Uldum, Paola Aurino, Pavel Kosintsev, Patrice Courtaud, Patricia Ríos, Peder Mortensen, Per Lotz, Per Persson, Pernille Bangsgaard, Peter de Barros Damgaard, Peter Vang Petersen, Pilar Prieto Martinez, Piotr Włodarczak, Roman V. Smolyaninov, Rikke Maring, Roberto Menduiña, Ruben Badalyan, Rune Iversen, Ruslan Turin, Sergey Vasilyev, Sidsel Wåhlin, Svetlana Borutskaya, Svetlana Skochina, Søren Anker Sørensen, Søren H. Andersen, Thomas Jørgensen, Yuri B. Serikov, Vyacheslav I. Molodin, Vaclav Smrcka, Victor Merts, Vivek Appadurai, Vyacheslav Moiseyev, Yvonne Magnusson, Kurt H. Kjær, Niels Lynnerup, Daniel J. Lawson, Peter H. Sudmant, Simon Rasmussen, Thorfinn Sand Korneliussen, Richard Durbin, Rasmus Nielsen, Olivier Delaneau, Thomas Werge, Fernando Racimo, Kristian Kristiansen and Eske Willerslev, 10 January 2024, Nature.DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06865-0“100 ancient genomes show repeated population turnovers in Neolithic Denmark” by Morten E. Allentoft, Martin Sikora, Anders Fischer, Karl-Göran Sjögren, Andrés Ingason, Ruairidh Macleod, Anders Rosengren, Bettina Schulz Paulsson, Marie Louise Schjellerup Jørkov, Maria Novosolov, Jesper Stenderup, T. Douglas Price, Morten Fischer Mortensen, Anne Birgitte Nielsen, Mikkel Ulfeldt Hede, Lasse Sørensen, Poul Otto Nielsen, Peter Rasmussen, Theis Zetner Trolle Jensen, Alba Refoyo-Martínez, Evan K. Irving-Pease, William Barrie, Alice Pearson, Bárbara Sousa da Mota, Fabrice Demeter, Rasmus A. Henriksen, Tharsika Vimala, Hugh McColl, Andrew Vaughn, Lasse Vinner, Gabriel Renaud, Aaron Stern, Niels Nørkjær Johannsen, Abigail Daisy Ramsøe, Andrew Joseph Schork, Anthony Ruter, Anne Birgitte Gotfredsen, Bjarne Henning Nielsen, Erik Brinch Petersen, Esben Kannegaard, Jesper Hansen, Kristoffer Buck Pedersen, Lisbeth Pedersen, Lutz Klassen, Morten Meldgaard, Morten Johansen, Otto Christian Uldum, Per Lotz, Per Lysdahl, Pernille Bangsgaard, Peter Vang Petersen, Rikke Maring, Rune Iversen, Sidsel Wåhlin, Søren Anker Sørensen, Søren H. Andersen, Thomas Jørgensen, Niels Lynnerup, Daniel J. Lawson, Simon Rasmussen, Thorfinn Sand Korneliussen, Kurt H. Kjær, Richard Durbin, Rasmus Nielsen, Olivier Delaneau, Thomas Werge, Kristian Kristiansen and Eske Willerslev, 10 January 2024, Nature.DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06862-3

Can AI and Big Data Solve Latin America’s Farming Woes?

For centuries, farmers used almanacs to try to predict nature. Now, a new generation of Latin American start-ups is helping to achieve this with artificial intelligence tools that promise an agricultural revolution in giants like Brazil. Aline Oliveira Pezente, a 39-year-old entrepreneur from the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais (southeast), was working at the multinational […] The post Can AI and Big Data Solve Latin America’s Farming Woes? appeared first on The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate.

For centuries, farmers used almanacs to try to predict nature. Now, a new generation of Latin American start-ups is helping to achieve this with artificial intelligence tools that promise an agricultural revolution in giants like Brazil. Aline Oliveira Pezente, a 39-year-old entrepreneur from the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais (southeast), was working at the multinational Louis Dreyfus Commodities when she noticed a problem in the industry dynamics in Brazil, the world’s largest exporter of soybeans, corn, and beef. Producers need large upfront loans to buy inputs such as seeds and fertilizers, she explains. But they face caution from lenders in the face of countless risks, both natural (droughts, floods, crop diseases…) and financial (bankruptcies, price drops, and more). Aline and her husband, Fabricio, decided to study the problem at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States, where she obtained a master’s degree and specialized in artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics. In 2018, they launched the start-up Traive, which collects massive amounts of agriculture-related data and then analyzes it with artificial intelligence to define risks for lenders and provide greater access to credit for farmers. “Lenders used to use their own model (of risk analysis), like a giant Excel file. But it’s very difficult for humans, even with extensive knowledge of statistics and mathematics, to create equations that capture all the nuances,” said Aline. Now “we can do in five minutes and with much greater precision what used to take three months,” she said. AI for agriculture Seven years later, Traive’s clients include agribusiness giants such as Syngenta, financial technology companies, and Latin America’s second-largest bank, Banco do Brasil. More than 70,000 producers use its platform, which facilitated almost $1 billion in financial transactions, says Aline. The entrepreneur presented her work this week at the Web Summit in Rio de Janeiro, a major technology event called “Davos for geeks”. Traive participated in a panel titled “Data Harvest: The Next Agricultural Revolution,” in which Alejandro Mieses, also an entrepreneur, addressed the potential of AI in the sector. Farmers are increasingly turning to this tool to increase their yields and returns, with applications such as autonomous tractors, drones that track crop health, and intelligent cameras that recognize weeds for herbicide treatment. TerraFirma, Mieses’ start-up based in Puerto Rico, developed an AI model that uses satellite imagery to forecast environmental risks such as natural disasters, crop diseases, and erosion. “We insist on physics because we believe that is the starting point. We must understand how water moves, wind, how different solar exposures act on crops,” he highlighted at the Web Summit, whose edition this year had AFP as an associated media. The difficulty, according to the panelists, is that AI models must be trained with massive amounts of data in a complex process. “It demands quite a few resources: servers, an immense data warehouse are needed,” said Mieses, 39. The result depends on the quality of the data. Agriculture vs. climate The agricultural industry faces criticism in countries like Brazil, whose rise as a sector powerhouse has also seen an increase in environmental destruction in key regions such as the Amazon rainforest, considered vital against climate change. Innovation optimists argue that, given that the world’s population is expected to reach nearly 10 billion by 2050, technologies such as AI are humanity’s best hope for survival without destroying the planet. Mariana Vasconcelos, 32, is the CEO of the Brazilian start-up Agrosmart, which uses AI to help farmers manage climate risks and produce more sustainably. “The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says we need to increase food production to supply a growing population. At the same time, we have to produce with less land, less deforestation, less carbon footprint. How can we do it without technology?” she asked. Although agriculture is often opposed to nature, “technology is proving that it can actually restore the environment, work together with nature… Agriculture is moving towards a more sustainable model,” she concluded. The post Can AI and Big Data Solve Latin America’s Farming Woes? appeared first on The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate.

Precision Spectroscopy Now Possible Under Starved-Light Conditions

In a study recently published in Nature, researchers from the Max Born Institute in Berlin, Germany, and the Max-Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching...

An ultraviolet photon-counting dual-comb spectrometer. Two ultraviolet frequency combs of slightly different pulse repetition frequencies are generated at very low light levels by nonlinear frequency conversion of near-infrared combs. One ultraviolet comb passes through a sample. The two feeble combs are then superimposed with a beam splitter and detected by a photon-counting detector. At power levels more than one million times weaker than usually employed, the statistics of the detected photons carries the information about the sample with its possibly highly complex optical spectrum. Credit: T.W. Hänsch (MPI of Quantum Optics) and N. Picqué (MPI of Quantum Optics, Max Born Institute).In a study recently published in Nature, researchers from the Max Born Institute in Berlin, Germany, and the Max-Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching have unveiled a new technique for deciphering the properties of matter with light, that can simultaneously detect and precisely quantify many substances with a high chemical selectivity.Their technique interrogates the atoms and molecules in the ultraviolet spectral region at very feeble light levels. Using two optical frequency combs and a photon counter, the experiments open up exciting prospects for conducting dual-comb spectroscopy in low-light conditions and they pave the way for novel applications of photon-level diagnostics, such as precision spectroscopy of single atoms or molecules for fundamental tests of physics and ultraviolet photochemistry in the Earth’s atmosphere or from space telescopes.Advancements in Ultraviolet SpectroscopyUltraviolet spectroscopy plays a critical role in the study of electronic transitions in atoms and rovibronic transitions in molecules. These studies are essential for tests of fundamental physics, quantum-electrodynamics theory, determination of fundamental constants, precision measurements, optical clocks, high-resolution spectroscopy in support of atmospheric chemistry and astrophysics, and strong-field physics. Scientists in the group of Nathalie Picqué have now made a significant leap in the field of ultraviolet spectroscopy by successfully implementing high-resolution linear-absorption dual-comb spectroscopy in the ultraviolet spectral range. This groundbreaking achievement opens up new possibilities for performing experiments under low-light conditions, paving the way for novel applications in various scientific and technological fields.Principles and Challenges of Dual-Comb SpectroscopyDual-comb spectroscopy, a powerful technique for precise spectroscopy over broad spectral bandwidths, has been mainly used for infrared linear absorption of small molecules in the gas phase. It relies on measuring the time-dependent interference between two frequency combs with slightly different repetition frequencies. A frequency comb is a spectrum of evenly spaced, phase-coherent laser lines, that acts like a ruler to measure the frequency of light with extreme precision. The dual-comb technique does not suffer from the geometric limitations associated with traditional spectrometers, and offers great potential for high precision and accuracy.However, dual-comb spectroscopy typically requires intense laser beams, making it less suitable for scenarios where low light levels are critical. The team has now experimentally demonstrated that dual-comb spectroscopy can be effectively employed in starved-light conditions, at power levels more than a million times weaker than those typically used.This breakthrough was achieved using two distinct experimental setups with different types of frequency-comb generators. The team developed a photon-level interferometer that accurately records the statistics of photon counting, showcasing a signal-to-noise ratio at the fundamental limit. This achievement highlights the optimal use of available light for experiments, and opens up the prospect of dual-comb spectroscopy in challenging scenarios where low light levels are essential.Overcoming Technical Challenges and Future ApplicationsThe researchers addressed the challenges associated with generating ultraviolet frequency combs and building dual-comb interferometers with long coherence times, paving the way for advances in this coveted goal. They exquisitely controlled the mutual coherence of two comb lasers with one femtowatt per comb line, demonstrating an optimal build-up of the counting statistics of their interference signal over times exceeding one hour. “Our innovative approach to low-light interferometry overcomes the challenges posed by the low efficiency of nonlinear frequency conversion, and lays a solid foundation for extending dual-comb spectroscopy to even shorter wavelengths,” comments Bingxin Xu, the post-doctoral scientist who led the experiments.Indeed, a compelling future application is the development of dual-comb spectroscopy at short wavelengths, to enable precise vacuum- and extreme-ultraviolet molecular spectroscopy over broad spectral spans. Currently, broadband extreme-UV spectroscopy is limited in resolution and accuracy, and relies on unique instrumentation at specialized facilities.“Ultraviolet dual-comb spectroscopy, while a challenging goal, has now become a realistic one as a result of our research. Importantly, our results extend the full capabilities of dual-comb spectroscopy to low-light conditions, unlocking novel applications in precision spectroscopy, biomedical sensing, and environmental atmospheric sounding. On a more personal note, this milestone results from an experiment performed at the Max-Planck Institute of Quantum Optics and completed whereas I had already taken up my position of director at the Max Born Institute. I can not imagine a more thrilling way to transition to a new institute. MBI will now host our next exciting experiments in this field!” Nathalie Picqué concludes.The development of dual-comb spectroscopy in the short wavelength range promises advances in several scientific and technological fields, underscoring the importance of this achievement.Reference: “Near-ultraviolet photon-counting dual-comb spectroscopy” by Bingxin Xu, Zaijun Chen, Theodor W. Hänsch and Nathalie Picqué, 6 March 2024, Nature.DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07094-9

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