Nada Salem
PhD student at MPI-EVA in Leipzig | Interested in aDNA & population genetics 💀🧬| Twin mom
- I'm beyond excited to share our new paper in Nature! We sequenced the first ancient human autosomal genomes from the Central Sahara, two ~7,000-year-old individuals from Takarkori in Libya, revealing a long-isolated North African lineage: www.nature.com/articles/s41... Here's a short thread: (1/n)
- During the African Humid Period (~14,500–5,000 years ago), the Sahara was green and full of lakes, rivers, and life. It supported foragers and early herders and until now, we had no ancient autosomal DNA from this region. (2/n)
- We analyzed DNA from two naturally mummified women buried in a rock shelter in southwestern Libya called Takarkori. The DNA preservation in the Sahara is extremely rare, but we made it work with targeted SNP capture of modern archaeogenetics methods, including variant enrichment. (3/n)
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View full threadA shoutout to the amazing team behind this work, from field archaeology in Libya to genome work in Leipzig & Florence. So grateful to @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social, my supervisor @hringbauer.bsky.social and my talented colleague @arevsumer.bsky.social — and to @roccoro.bsky.social for crucial input!
