Over the past decade, archaeogenetics has analyzed more than 15,000 ancient genomes spanning 45,000 years of western Eurasian prehistory, uncovering dozens of migrations that reshaped Europe. Johannes Krause, Max Planck Institute, traces the earliest, unsuccessful attempts of modern humans to settle Europe after leaving Africa around 50,000 years ago, when they also interbred with Neandertals. Krause examines two major genetic turnovers of the Neolithic: the spread of early farmers from Anatolia about 8,000 years ago, who brought agriculture and domesticated animals and later mixed with indigenous hunter-gatherers; and the arrival of mobile herders from the Pontic steppe around 5,000 years ago, who introduced pastoralism and possibly Indo-European languages. Finally, he considers migrations triggered by the collapse of the Roman Empire, showing how large-scale mobility created the multiple ancestral strands found in modern Europeans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 41198]

Dramatic advances in ancient DNA technologies have revolutionized our understanding of the human past. Since the publication of the first ancient human genomes in 2010, the field of archaeogenomics has grown at an astonishing pace, and today the genomes of more than 10,000 ancient humans have been sequenced. Kicking off this symposium are CARTA Co-Director and Salk Institute President Jerry Joyce and event co-chair Johannes Krause. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 41194]

The Kazakh and Mongolian Steppes span 5,000 kilometers west to east along the northern latitude of Asia. This unique ecozone allowed rapid movements of people, animals, goods, and ideas across Eurasia since prehistory and harbored numerous polities of pastoralists that made tremendous impacts on human history. However, the region’s dynamic genetic history has been emerging only recently from archaeogenomic studies. Choongwon Jeong of Seoul National University discusses the current understanding of the region’s genetic history, including the divergent genetic history of the Kazakh and Mongolian Steppe populations, the genetic interaction between the steppe pastoralists and their neighbors, and a comparison between the genetic history of human and domesticated animal populations. The emerging genetic view illuminates the poorly recorded history of the Kazakh and Mongolian Steppes and provides an interconnected perspective on the history of Eurasia. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 41197]

Humans have a deep and complex relationship with microbes. Beyond disease, microbes also profoundly shape human health and behavior through their activity in the microbiome and their diverse roles in food and cuisine. And yet we know very little about the origin, evolution, or ecology of the trillions of microorganisms that call us home. Christina Warinner of Harvard University discusses recent advances in genomic and proteomic technologies that are opening up dramatic new opportunities to investigate the complex and diverse microbial communities that have long inhabited our human bodies and our food systems - both in sickness and in health. From infectious disease to the microbiome, microbes are the invisible and often overlooked figures that have profoundly shaped human culture and influenced the course of human history. Warinner focuses on the long arc of human-microbial relationships preserved by ancient DNA over the past 100,000 years, and explores how emerging research on pathogen evolution and the recent loss of commensal microbes is changing how we understand human health – both today and in the past. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 41196]

David Gokhman of the Weizmann Institute of Science explores how changes in gene regulation shaped recent human evolution. His team used massively parallel reporter assays in skeletal and neural cells to test 71,443 genetic variants that distinguish Neanderthals and Denisovans from modern humans, building a catalog that reveals hundreds of noncoding variants that alter gene expression. The work uncovers evolutionary trends and examples of convergent evolution, including an enhancer of KDM8, a gene involved in tumor progression, that was completely silenced in both archaic and modern human lineages through different mechanisms: motif disruption in Neanderthals and Denisovans, and hypermethylation in modern humans. Gokhman also introduces a way to reconstruct anatomical profiles from DNA sequence and methylation, using it to model Denisovan anatomy and scan the fossil record. The results suggest that the Harbin and Dali fossils were likely Denisovans, while Kabwe may have been related to the ancestor of Neanderthals and Denisovans, helping to clarify the regulatory changes underlying human evolution. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 41195]

The sequencing of genomes from archaic humans, such as Neanderthals and Denisovans, has transformed our understanding of human evolutionary history. These ancient genomes reveal that modern humans did not evolve in isolation but interbred with now-extinct groups, leaving lasting genetic legacies. To date, genomic sequences from 31 archaic human individuals, including four sequenced to high coverage, have provided unprecedented insights into the population structure, social organization, and adaptation of this now-extinct lineages, allowing us to reconstruct our own evolutionary history and the mechanisms that led to modern human success. Diyendo Massilani of Yale University School of Medicine reviews nearly three decades of research on archaic human DNA and what we have learned about how these groups lived, as well as how admixture between different lineages may have contributed both to the extinction of archaic humans and the thriving of modern humans. Ultimately, ancient genomes show that the success of our species was not predetermined but forged through encounters, exchanges, and adaptations, and that the legacies of archaic humans live on in our biology today, continuing to influence what it means to be human. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 41193]

The genome sequences of Neandertals and Denisovans have provided a wealth of new information about the origins, migrations, and interactions of ancient humans. These genomes have revealed that mixture between hominin groups was common: all modern humans outside Africa carry around 2% Neandertal DNA from a single major episode of Neandertal gene flow, while the ancestors of present-day Asians and Oceanians also met and mixed with multiple, genetically distinct Denisovan populations. Archaeological evidence suggests multiple dispersals of modern humans out of Africa, with early fossils identified in East and Southeast Asia over 50 thousand years ago. In contrast, genomic studies indicate that all present-day non-African populations descend primarily from a single dispersal after ~50 ka, though the migration routes of ancestral populations across Eurasia and Oceania remain unclear. Janet Kelso, professor at Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, shows how using the distribution of Neandertal and Denisovan ancestry in ancient and present-day modern humans can determine when, where and how often modern and archaic humans met and mixed. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 41192]

The human body has traits that evolved at different times, from 1.5 billion to 2 million years ago, each bringing health benefits and risks. Multicellularity enabled organs and cancer. The immune system defends us but can cause inflammation. Breastfeeding supports infant health but relates to breast cancer risk. Menstruation and invasive placentas improved reproduction but led to pain and cancer risks. Human-specific traits like bipedalism and aging brought new issues like back pain and childbirth problems. Hair loss and sweat glands helped us stay cool but increased skin cancer risk. Our hunter-gatherer past shaped our microbiome and health, but also made us prone to modern diseases from lifestyle changes. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 40702]

Humans have long been exposed to three main types of smoke: from early domestic fires, modern wildfires, and more recently, tobacco and fossil fuel pollution. All release tiny particles from partly burned plants, containing harmful chemicals like nitrogen oxides and carcinogens. These particles raise risks for lung cancer, dementia, and even childhood obesity. Studies show that air pollution can disrupt brain chemistry, increase Alzheimer’s-related proteins, and activate stress-related genes (NFkB, Nrf2). A new drug (GSM-15606) shows promise in reducing brain damage from pollution in mice. People with the ApoE4 gene may be more vulnerable, while the ApoE3 gene, possibly evolved 200,000 years ago, may offer some protection. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 40700]

The human gut microbiome is tightly linked our health. Our analyses of diverse human populations from around the globe, ranging from hunter-gatherer to industrialized, show that the gut microbiome is profoundly influenced by lifestyle. With a large collaborative team, we conducted deep metagenomic sequencing of the gut microbiomes of Tsimane horticulturalists from Bolivia and compared them to those of Hadza hunter-gatherers from Tanzania. We are also investigating whether diet and microbial therapies can address deficiencies in the industrialized gut community. Molecular mechanisms of host-microbial interaction are pursued using an array of technologies and experimental approaches including gnotobiotic and conventional mouse models, quantitative imaging, and a metabolomics pipeline focused on investigating microbiota-dependent metabolites. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 40698]