News/Press releases

Scientists describe increased activity of the Neandertal growth hormone receptor and how it shapes the bodies of people who carry it today

New genetic study reveals regional diversity shortly before Neandertals disappeared

Human DNA can survive on cave walls for thousands of years – shedding light on prehistoric human activity even where bones, sediments or artifacts are…

Each year, the Max Planck Society recognises young researchers for their exceptional scientific achievements during their doctoral studies 

A control switch in an enzyme is present in most modern humans, but absent in Neandertals

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Historically small population at high risk of extinction

Leipzig scientists analyse 21,000 cells from tissue samples

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

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

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

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

Genetic analysis of Indigenous Taiwanese peoples sheds light on Austronesian expansion

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