Space Industry and Business News  
ABOUT US
Ancient chewing gum reveals Scandinavia's oldest human DNA
by Brooks Hays
Washington (UPI) May 15, 2019

Scientists have recovered human DNA from 10,000-year-old chewing gum found in Sweden. The DNA is the oldest to be sequenced from the region.

Researchers found the masticated lumps of birch bark pitch, a sap-like tar, among the remains of an early Mesolithic hunter-fisher site called Huseby Klev, located on Sweden's west coast.

During the Stone Age, humans used the bark-derived chewing gum as a glue to make tools. The pieces of gum were originally found in the 1990s, but scientists had yet to develop the technology necessary to process human DNA.

Scientists in Sweden and Norway were able to successfully extract DNA from the masticated gum and sequence the genome of three human individuals.

DNA analysis showed the individuals were closely related to other groups of hunter-gatherers in Scandinavia, as well as Mesolithic populations in Europe. However, the tools found at Huseby Klev are part of technological lineage that archaeologists have traced to the East European Plain, modern day Russia.

The new genetic data, detailed this week in the journal Communications Biology, suggests Scandinavia hosted a unique convergence of disparate genetic and technological lineages.

"Demography analysis suggests that the genetic composition of Huseby Klev individuals show more similarity to western hunter-gatherer populations than eastern hunter-gatherers," Emrah Kirdök, researcher at Stockholm University, said in a news release.

Scientists hope new discoveries of ancient DNA will provide further insights into the origins, migration patterns and behaviors of the earliest Scandinavian settlers.

"DNA from these ancient chewing gums have an enormous potential not only for tracing the origin and movement of peoples long time ago, but also for providing insights in their social relations, diseases and food," said Per Persson, researcher at the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo.


Related Links
All About Human Beings and How We Got To Be Here


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


ABOUT US
Evidence suggests Stone Age family explored Italian cave on their hands, knees
Washington (UPI) May 14, 2019
Families that crawl through damp, dark caves together, stay together, apparently. Archaeologists have discovered 14,000-year-old evidence of a crawling expedition through an Italian cave. The evidence suggests the crawlers were members of a late Stone Age family of sorts, a group including two adults and three children. Archaeologists have known about the Bàsura at Toirano cave and the traces of human and animal visitation within since the 1950s, but the latest study is the first to loo ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

ABOUT US
Discovery may lead to new materials for next-generation data storage

Researchers create 'force field' for super materials

Gold helps CT scans pick up the finest surface structures

Recognising sustainable behaviour in orbit

ABOUT US
Boeing awarded $605M for Air Force's 11th WGS comms satellite

SLAC develops novel compact antenna for communicating where radios fail

US Army selects Hughes for cooperative effort to upgrades NextGen Friendly Forces System

United Launch Alliance launches WGS-10 satellite for USAF

ABOUT US
ABOUT US
GSA launches testing campaign for agriculture receivers

CGI and Thales sign contract for secure Galileo satellite navigation services

China launches new BeiDou satellite

Industry collaboration on avionics paves the way for GAINS navigation demonstration flights

ABOUT US
Test flights begin at Beijing's new mega-airport

Study suggests crash location of MH370 near 25S, north of underwater search area

State Department approves sale of 24 Apache helicopters to Qatar for $3B

Air Force to reactivate aggressor squadron at Nellis for F-35 training

ABOUT US
Computing faster with quasi-particles

Substrate defects key to growth of 2D materials

Move over, silicon switches: There's a new way to compute

The evolution of skyrmions in multilayers and their topological Hall signature

ABOUT US
Arianespace to launch ESAIL satellite for exactEarth on Vega SSMS POC flight

At least 300 Himalayan yaks starve to death in India

Ozone monitoring team spots "fingerprints" on Earth's atmosphere

Global TanDEM-X forest map is available

ABOUT US
Mexico City declares pollution alert, postpones football semi-final

Mount Blanc glacier reveals traces of Roman-era pollution

Minister promises clean Delhi air in three years

Delhi hit by rare summer air pollution alert









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.