From Stone to Bronze in prehistoric Scandinavia

Recently, the preprint for a massive new study by Morten Allentoft and colleagues went online over at bioRxiv.org. It is a paper full of important and illuminating new data from all over Stone Age Eurasia. However, this article will mainly focus on the new data from Scandinavia. The newly sequenced ancient genomes from Scandinavia are…

The origins of lactase persistence in Europe

What is lactase persistence? Lactase. It’s that amazing enzyme which allows us to chug down a gallon of milk on a daily basis without having constant diarrhea. Well, some of us, at least. Lactase persistence, meaning the persistance of the lactase intestinal enzyme among adults, has a dramatic variation depending on where you come from…