Label:
human and mtDNA variation
Description:
In 1997, German researchers isolated DNA fragments from a 30,000 year old Neandertal bone. The fragments came from the Neandertal's mitochondria â?“ energy-producing organelles scattered in large numbers throughout cells. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has been used for human evolutionary studies since the 1970s.
When comparing Neandertal and human mtDNA, researchers found that the differences between the sequences put Neandertals outside the range of variation of modern humans.
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