Category: Publications
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Homo sapiens-specific evolution unveiled by ancient southern African genomes, published in Nature
In southern Africa, a group of people lived in partial isolation for hundreds of thousands of years. This is shown in a new study based on analyses of the genomes of 28 people who lived between 10,200 and 150 years ago in southern Africa. The researchers also found genetic adaptations that likely shaped Homo sapiens…
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A decade with the ancient Southern Africans
The Jakobsson Lab team, in various constellations of researchers and with varying levels of engagement, has been working on genetic material first investigated more than a decade ago. Now, the first fruits of the work are collected. The major publication from this project is out now. Behind the scene impressions.
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HLA diversity and signatures of selection in the Maniq, a nomadic hunter-gatherer population in Southern Thailand
A new article co-authored by Mattias Jakobsson and Max Larena has been published in Immunogenetics. Schaschl, H., Herzog, T., Oberreiter, V. et al. HLA diversity and signatures of selection in the Maniq, a nomadic hunter-gatherer population in Southern Thailand. Immunogenetics 77, 23 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00251-025-01380-0 Abstract The Maniq, a small and isolated nomadic hunter-gatherer population from the rainforests of Southern…
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Ancient tree-topologies and gene-flow processes among human lineages in Africa—a new article in prepress
Gwenna, Per, Carina and Mattias are the co-authors of a new paper (prepress now) on Africa. Abstract The deep history of human evolution in Africa remains intensely debated with increasingly complex models being proposed. To investigate human evolutionary history in Africa, we sequenced and investigated 73 novel high-quality whole genomes from 14 Central and Southern…
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Ancient DNA HLA typing reveals significant shifts in frequency in Europe since the Neolithic
Mattias and Federico are the co-authors of the new article published in Nature Scientific Reports. Plascencia, A.G., Jakobsson, M. & Sánchez-Quinto, F. Ancient DNA HLA typing reveals significant shifts in frequency in Europe since the Neolithic. Sci Rep 15, 6161 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-82449-w Abstract Computational HLA typing has surged as a cost-effective strategy to uncover questions regarding the…
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Investigating population continuity and ghost admixture among ancient genomes
Co-authors from the Jakobsson Lab. The recent paper by McKenna, Bernhardsson, Waxham, Jakobsson and Sjödin (2024) is published in HPGG. Abstract Ancient DNA (aDNA) can prove a valuable resource when investigating the evolutionary relationships between ancient and modern populations. Performing demographic inference using datasets that include aDNA samples however, requires statistical methods that explicitly account…
