Chinese and foreign scientists have collaborated to reveal the complex genetic history of Asians

the exterior of the site of thePastoral CaveMan Skeleton MapA map of the relationship between pastoral cave people and other populations
On October 12th Current Biology published its first genome-wide study of ancient humans in China, entitled "
". The project was carried out by a team from the Institute of Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fu Qiaomei, Melanda Yang, Gao Xing, Tongwen and the German Institute of Evolutionary Human Studies. The study analyzed the genomes of a male individual unearthed 40,000 years ago in beijing's Fangshan Pastoral Cave and found that the composition of early East Asian populations was complex.
Although some ancient human genomes have been sequenced in Europe and Siberia, very few samples of ancient human genomes have been sequenced in East Asia, especially in China, in sharp contrast to the rich early modern human archaeological material found in China. The study obtained the entire genome data of the first ancient people in China and the oldest human genome data in East Asia.
2013, the Paleontology DNA Laboratory of the Institute of Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has carried out research on mitochondrials and chromosome 21 in pastoral caves. At that time, it was found that, compared with modern Europeans, pastoral cave people and modern Asians have a closer genetic relationship, should be the representative of the ancient East Asian population. However, new research in 2014 showed that modern Europeans mixed with older genetic components, which would have kept modern Europeans genetically far away from other populations, so it is uncertain whether previous evidence still supports the pastoral caveman as an ancient East Asian. Now, the PaleoDNA Laboratory of the Institute of Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has captured and sequenced only 0.03% of the entire genome of paleoanthropology from ancient human DNA samples contaminated with bacterial and fungal DNA using the latest paleoDNA technology. By comparing the genome data of pastoral cavemen and Europeans who did not mix ancient genetic components, it was determined that the pastoral cave people 40,000 years ago did present Asian genetic characteristics. Although the pastoral caveman was an ancient East Asian, he was not a direct ancestor of modern East Asians, suggesting the diversity of the Asian population 40,000 years ago.
paper also revealed some unexpected findings. Analysis shows that there is a genetic link between the 40,000-year-old pastoral caveman and an ancient European from Belgium 35,000 years ago. This connection was not found among other ancient Europeans of the same period. Thus, it is likely that East Asians at the time did not have genetic exchanges with Europeans, but with an unknown population associated with the pastoral cavemen and the Belgian ancients, which evolved from a sub-group of the undifferentiated ancient Eurasian population. The genetic link between the two ancient individuals provides strong direct evidence that Europeans and Asians have a complex genetic history.
, the migration of modern Americans took place about 20,000 years ago, from Asia through the Bering Strait into the Americas. Pastoral cave people lived 40,000 years ago, so we expect that all Native Americans should have the same genetic connections as idyllic cave people. Surprisingly, among Native Americans, the Amazons have a recent relationship with the pastoral caveman. The results suggest that Native Americans also have genetic diversity, at least from two or more different Asian ancestral groups (at least one of which is associated with the 40,000-year-old pastoral caveman), which in turn provides clues to the study of prehistoric population diversity in East Asia.
the research was supported by the National Fund Committee and the Chinese Academy of Sciences' key research projects and pilot project funds. (Source: Science Network Cui Xueqin)