For the first time, the genome of an ancient man has been analyzed, providing clues about what humans were up to 4,000 years ago. As reported in Nature, Danish researchers were able to study the preserved swatch of a Greenlander’s hair that had been first excavated in 1986–suspected to have been discarded after a trim.

From just this small sample sealed in hair keratin, scientists obtained clues about the way he looked and his susceptibility to certain diseases. For example, they expect he had thick hair, brown eyes, dry earwax, and was at risk for baldness. By employing advanced DNA sequencing technology, the hair provides us a more revealing glimpse into our past than ever before possible. But perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this research is that we have new evidence for a migration of ancient humans about 5,500 years ago from Siberia to Greenland. Check out the editor’s summary here and listen to the Nature Podcast for details.

I have a hunch we’ll be hearing a lot more about the DNA of much older humans very soon…

We all know how Abraham Lincoln died in 1865, but what about the way he lived during the final years of his life?  Just maybe the 16th president suffered from a rare genetic disorder called multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2B.

Dr. John Sotos–author of ‘The Physical Lincoln‘ and a consultant on the TV series ‘House‘–would like to run DNA analysis of the president’s blood.  He believes Lincoln was already dying, before the assassination, from cancer.

Why such speculation?  (more…)

Since yesterday brought us back to genomics, it looks like the boys at Eppendorf have some stiff competition.  While the PCR Song didn’t pose much of a threat to their smash hit epMotion, Bio-Rad’s latest effort raises the bar with no word yet from the fab five automaters.

Which do readers like best and who can predict what we have to look forward to next? Perhaps Spice Girls WannaATCG or Britney’s If You Sequence?

* Hat tip to Isis for the video