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First Peoples

An Impossible Task

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute, a leader in the study of ancient DNA, were the first to crack the genetic code of a Neanderthal. On First Peoples: Europe, Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo describes the challenges faced in reconstructing DNA from millions of degraded genome fragments found in a Neanderthal bone.

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Europe
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54:40
Find out why Neanderthals, with whom early humans in Europe interbred, went extinct.
Australia
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54:40
Learn how Homo sapiens, new in Australia and truly alone, managed to survive and flourish.
Asia
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54:40
Discover a type of ancient human whose genes helped us face down extinction.
Africa
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54:40
Examine research that suggests we humans are patchwork species of hybrids.
Americas
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54:40
Learn why a discovery in Mexico may rewrite the story of early migration to the Americas.
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