The past several years have witnessed an explosion of successful ancient human genome-
sequencing projects, with genomic-scale ancient DNA data sets now available for more than …

BACKGROUND When human populations expanded across the globe, they adapted
genetically to local environments in response to novel selection pressures. Drivers of …

The human trophic level (HTL) during the Pleistocene and its degree of variability serve,
explicitly or tacitly, as the basis of many explanations for human evolution, behavior, and …

Previous studies suggested that the copy number of the human salivary amylase gene,
AMY1, correlates with starch-rich diets. However, evolutionary analyses are hampered by …

According to current evidence, Homo sapiens was unable to survive on a diet of raw wild
foods. Because cooked diets have large physiological and behavioral consequences, a …

Host genetic variation influences microbiome composition. While studies have focused on
associations between the gut microbiome and specific alleles, gene copy number (CN) also …

Denisovans, a group of now extinct humans who lived in Eastern Eurasia in the Middle and
Late Pleistocene, were first identified from DNA sequences just over a decade ago. Only ten …

Humans have more copies of amylase genes than other primates. It is still poorly
understood, however, when the copy number expansion occurred and whether its spread …

The control of fire and the beginning of cooking were important developments in the
evolution of human foodways. The cooking techniques available to our ancestors for much …

Global exposures to air pollution and cigarette smoke are novel in human evolutionary
history and are associated with at least 12 million premature deaths per year. We investigate …