Physiology (Bethesda, Md.). 2026 Mar 6

Roland Heynkes 3.4.2026, CC BY-SA-4.0 DE

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Gliederung

NR BACM

AU Misheelt Bayarsaikhan, Michael James Boyle, Phoebe V. Demers, Edward W. Habeck Iv, Joanna H. Romeyer-Dherbey, Shahar Silverman, Diyendo Massilani

TI Ancient DNA and human physiology

QU Physiology (Bethesda, Md.). 2026 Mar 6. doi: 10.1152/physiol.00047.2025

AB Ancient DNA (aDNA) enables the reconstruction of chronologically sampled genomes from ancient humans, animals, plants, pathogens, and microorganisms, as well as environmental DNA, providing a record of biological changes through time. Improvements in short and degraded DNA extraction methods and low-cost sequencing now enable the generation of broad, cross-regional datasets that expand evolutionary analyses from past population demography to biological mechanisms. By tracking temporal shifts of allele frequencies, integrating functional genomics resources (e.g., gene expression, chromatin structure variation), modeling population demography to separate selection from genetic drift, and aligning genetic changes with archaeological, cultural and climatic data, aDNA has the potential to link sequence variation to physiological function within their temporal and environmental contexts. In this review, we summarize illustrative case studies from aDNA research spanning complex traits, dietary adaptations, and responses to pathogens and other environmental changes, showing how human biology has evolved under multiple selective pressures through time. These dated signals help triage experimental work and expose mechanisms that are rare or absent in living cohorts. While some challenges remain, such as geographic and temporal sampling disparities, technical limitations, and genotype-phenotype uncertainties, rapid methodological progress and stronger ethical frameworks are expanding what can be inferred, making aDNA a promising tool for refining physiological pathways, their timing, and their drivers.

SP englisch

ZF Die ständig wachsende Anzahl von Genom-Sequenzierungen prähistorischer Lebewesen und verbesserte Analyse-Methoden unter Einbeziehung der Ergebnisse anderer Wissenschaften ermöglichen eine immer genauere Rekontruktion der jüngeren Evolutionsgeschichte. Dieser Review konzentriert sich auf die komplizierte Evolution der Menschheit. Leider kostet das Lesen des Artikels die normalen Steuerzahler, welche diese Forschungen bezahlt haben, 25 Dollar pro Tag.