Ancient genome research found that the "ghost ancestors" of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau people were hiding in Yunnan

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Reporters learned from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, that Chinese scientists have captured and sequenced more than 100 ancient human genomes from Yunnan dating back 7,100 years, filling a key gap in the genetic data of prehistoric populations in East and Southeast Asia, and for the first time clarifying the origin of the "ghost ancestors" of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau population from a genetic perspective.

The above research was completed by Fu Qiaomie's research team from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with the Yunnan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and other units after 9 years. The research results were published as a highlight article in the international academic journal Science on the 30th.

"The genetic origin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau population has always been a hot topic of concern in the academic community." Fu Qiaomie, the paper's corresponding author and co-first author, a researcher at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, introduced that according to the research team's previous research results, from 5,100 years ago to the present, about 80% of the genetic component of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau population originated from the northern Chinese population between 9,500 and 4,000 years ago, but the remaining 20% has an unknown origin and is called "ghost ancestors" by the academic community.

Fu Qiaomie said that this time, the research team successfully captured and sequenced 127 ancient human genomes from 17 sites in Yunnan dating back 7,100 years. Among them, the genome of an individual from the Xingyi site in Yunnan dating back 7,100 years carried a previously unidentified, deeply differentiated Asian genetic component, which the research team named the "Asian Base Xingyi Ancestor."

The research team further analyzed through ancestral component simulation and other methods and found that this genetic component not only contributed to the ancient Tibetan Plateau population, but was also retained in the modern Tibetan genome, proving that the ancient population represented by the "Xingyi Ancestors of the Asian Base" is one of the "ghost ancestors" of the Tibetan Plateau that was previously speculated by the academic community but could not be accurately located. This discovery fills the gap in the origin of the early Tibetan Plateau population and basically clarifies the genetic origin of the Tibetan Plateau population.

The study showed that this "ghost ancestor" lineage had already separated from other Asian populations at least 40,000 years ago and persisted in Yunnan for a long time, with people still carrying this ancient component until at least 7,100 years ago. This discovery not only provides key clues for the study of the genetic origin and population history of plateau populations, but also provides new evidence for the migration and evolution of East Asian populations.