Publications
Members of the McMaster Ancient DNA Centre are active in different research projects.
Researchers from three continents work collaboratively to develop a database for aDNA metadata to streamline project planning and analysis
Community-curated and standardised metadata of published ancient metagenomic samples with AncientMetagenomeDir
Jan 30, 2021
The Recovery, Interpretation and Use of Ancient Pathogen Genomes
A review of the history of ancient DNA in pathogen and pandemic research and how we interpret the spread of diseases in the past.
Oct 06, 2020
A new approach to sedimentary ancient DNA analysis
Researchers at the Ancient DNA Centre outline new methods for the extraction and enrichment of ancient DNA from permafrost cores greatly increasing the amount of breadth of material recovered.
Sep 01, 2020
The continental migrations of American mastodons
As part of a large collaborative project, researchers at the Ancient DNA Centre conducted the first large scale phylogeographic analysis of American mastodons and showed the repeatedly migrated vast distances in response to glacial retreat.
Sep 01, 2020
The genetics of Civil War era smallpox vaccination
McMaster Ancient DNA Centre researchers characterize the genetics of early smallpox vaccinations, extracting ancient DNA from the preserved scabs and lymph used to inoculate Civil War soldiers.
Jul 20, 2020
New software opens doors for biologists working with publicly available data.
Research software from McMaster provides new avenues for geneticists to access and interpret datasets from the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).
Feb 26, 2020
The Justinianic Plague: An inconsequential pandemic?
New research suggests that reports of death in the wake of the Justinian Plague have been greatly exaggerated.
Dec 02, 2019
Ancient DNA suggests drastically different evolutionary history for modern and extinct sloths
New mitochondrial genomes for extinct sloths suggests a very different evolutionary path for giant ground and Caribbean sloths.
Jun 06, 2019
Evolution of the Mylodontidae and Arborealism in Sloths
Nuclear and mitochondrial data from Darwin's extinct ground sloth shows close relation to two-fingered sloths and supports multiple origins for arboreality.
May 25, 2018