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News/Press releases

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Common medicines may influence CRISPR therapy outcomes and precision cancer treatment

Evolutionary Genetics

Large-scale drug atlas uncovers new genome editing modulators and potential therapeutic strategies for DNA repair-deficient cancers

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New method boosts DNA editing efficiency and kills cancer cells in the lab

Evolutionary Genetics

A universal approach for selection of edited cells and elimination of cells with cancer mutations

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Some early East Asians did not meet Denisovans

Evolutionary Genetics

Researchers reveal the dynamics of Denisovan ancestry in Eurasians over the past 40,000 years

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Tracing brain chemistry across humanity’s family tree

Evolutionary Genetics

Small changes to an enzyme suggest how modern humans differ from Neanderthals and Denisovans in biochemistry and behavior

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Neandertal variant reduces activity of a key muscle enzyme

Evolutionary Genetics

New study shows that a genetic variant inherited from Neandertals impairs the function of a key enzyme involved in muscle performance

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“Gene scissors”: Synthetic CRISPR gRNAs almost always cut

Evolutionary Genetics

Additionally, the new study reveals factors that drive efficient, precise editing and hidden DNA repair

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New timeline for Neandertal gene flow event

Evolutionary Genetics

Scientists unravel timing and impact of Neandertal gene flow into early modern humans

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Not all bonobos are the same – three genetically distinct populations in the Congo

Evolutionary Genetics

Historically small population at high risk of extinction

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Cell atlas of regenerating liver

Evolutionary Genetics

Leipzig scientists analyse 21,000 cells from tissue samples

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Shedding light on past encounters between hominin groups

Research Groups
Evolutionary Genetics

Mateja Hajdinjak starts a new Max Planck Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig

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Unearthing ancient social structures with sediment DNA

Evolutionary Genetics

An ERC Consolidator Grant was awarded to Benjamin Vernot, leader of the Max Planck Research Group for Ancient Environmental Genomics at the Max Planck…

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Probing the deep genetic structure of Africa

Evolutionary Genetics

DNA research from human populations thought to be uncontactable or extinct helps probe the deep genetic structure of Africa

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Increased efficiency, precision and reliability in DNA editing

Evolutionary Genetics

New method brings breakthrough in the precise introduction of mutations in human genomes

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Investigating Taiwanese genomic diversity

Evolutionary Genetics

Genetic analysis of Indigenous Taiwanese peoples sheds light on Austronesian expansion

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Traces from the past

Evolutionary Genetics

Scientists recover an ancient woman’s DNA from a 20,000-year-old pendant

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Human dispersals during the Holocene

Evolutionary Genetics

Genomic evidence from ancient and modern human DNA indicates a complex history for human migrations

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Meet the first Neandertal family

Evolutionary Genetics

Ancient genomes of thirteen Neandertals provide a rare snapshot of their community and social organization

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Nobel Prize for Svante Pääbo

Evolutionary Genetics

The director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig is honoured for his pioneering work in the field of palaeogenetics,…

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Modern humans generate more brain neurons than Neandertals

Evolutionary Genetics

Due to the change of a single amino acid, brain evolution has proceeded differently

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The brains of Neanderthals developed differently from those of modern humans

Evolutionary Genetics

Brain stem cells of modern humans make fewer mistakes in the distribution of their chromosomes to the daughter cells

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