“Ancient DNA Reveals Shocking Truths About Our Prehistoric Ancestors—What Secrets Are Hidden in Our Genes?”

"Ancient DNA Reveals Shocking Truths About Our Prehistoric Ancestors—What Secrets Are Hidden in Our Genes?"

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Although the discovery of the girls proved many hypotheses, it also raised several questions. What happened to the Beringians? How did they get to Siberia in the first place?

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Given how rare these findings are, it is unlikely that these questions will be answered soon. And to make things more complicated, not all experts are on board with Potter’s theories.

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Some Experts Argued Against Potter’s Conclusions

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A woman holds up a dropper filled with dna samples to study.

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The main argument against this finding is just that: It’s a single finding. Dennis O’Rourke, a geneticist and archaeologist, says that the one sample is not enough evidence to study the entire human population.

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“We could know something about the extent of diversity in this early Beringian population with greater certainty if we had multiple genomes,” O’Rourke told The Smithsonian Magazine.

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However, These Findings Are Exceptionally Rare

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An archaeologist excavates in 1992.

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But finding more than one sample is easier said than done. “It’s hard to impress upon you how rare they are,” Potter told The Atlantic.

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According to co-researcher Willerslev, before this finding, scientists only had modern-day Alaskans and Siberians to study this genome. Without more samples, nobody will know where the Beringians came from.

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