Response to Comment on "Ancient DNA from the First European Farmers in 7500-Year-Old Neolithic Sites"

The discovery of mitochondrial type N1a in Central European Neolithic skeletons at a high frequency enabled us to answer the question of whether the modern population is maternally descended from the early farmers instead of addressing the traditional question of the origin of early European farmers.

DXYS156: a multi-purpose short tandem repeat locus for determination of sex, paternal and maternal geographic origins and DNA fingerprinting

In forensic science and in legal medicine Y chromosomal typing is indispensable for sex determination, for paternity testing in the absence of the father and for distinguishing males in multiple rape cases. Another potential application is the estimation of paternal geographic origin or family name from a crime stain to narrow down the range of suspects and thus reduce costs of mass screenings. However, Y typing alone cannot provide a sufficiently resolved DNA fingerprint as required for court convictions. Thus, there is a dilemma whether or not to sacrifice valuable material for the sake of extensive Y chromosomal investigations when stain DNA is limited (typically allowing only few PCR am…

Genetic discontinuity between local hunter-gatherers and central Europe's first farmers.

Cultivating Farmers Were the ancestors of modern Europeans the local hunter-gatherers who assimilated farming practices from neighboring cultures, or were they farmers who migrated from the Near East in the early Neolithic? By analyzing ancient hunter-gatherer skeletal DNA from 2300 to 13,400 B.C.E. Bramanti et al. (p. 137 , published online 3 September) investigated the genetic relationship of European Ice Age hunter-gatherers, the first farmers of Europe, and modern Europeans. The results reject the hypothesis of direct continuity between hunter-gatherers and early farmers and between hunter-gatherers and modern Europeans. Major parts of central and northern Europe were colonized by incom…

mtDNA markers for Celtic and Germanic Language Areas in the British Isles