Sequencing of ancient samples showed that Denisovan Y chromosomes split around 700,000 years ago from a lineage shared by Neanderthals and modern humans.
Ebola viruses passaged in bat renal cells appeared to be subject to RNA editing by host enzymes, while more adaptive mutations arose after passaging in a human kidney cell line.
With a new analytical tool, researchers uncovered ancient archaic hominin sequences in the Denisovan genome, along with human introgression into Neanderthals up to 300,000 years ago.
With genome sequence alignments and phylogenetic analyses focused on non-recombining regions, researchers traced the SARS-CoV-2 lineage in bats back at least 40 years.
Ancestral alleles "reintroduced" by Neanderthal admixture are prone to functional in the human genome, based on an analysis of East Asian, South Asian, and European sequences.
Researchers used sequence data from variola virus strains in 11 "Viking Age" individuals from northern Europe to gain new clues about smallpox evolution.
The genomes of modern sled dogs, an ancient Siberian dog, and an ancient wolf revealed genetic similarity between the ancient dog and modern sled dogs.
The researchers studied the admixture of humans and Neanderthals using 14 million archaic chromosome fragments detected in whole genomes from 27,566 Icelanders.
A new UK government says socioeconomic factors, not genetics, account for disparities in deaths due to COVID-19 between ethnic groups, the Financial Times reports.
