Washington, August 13: A new DNA study has suggested that Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans did not interbreed.
According to a report in National Geographic News, researchers sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome—genetic information passed down from mothers—of a 38,000-year-old Neanderthal thighbone found in a cave in Croatia, to come up with their findings.
The new sequence contains 16,565 DNA bases, or “letters,” representing 13 genes, making it the longest stretch of Neanderthal DNA ever examined.
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is easier to isolate from ancient bones than conventional or “nuclear” DNA—which is contained in cell nuclei—because there are many mitochondria per cell.