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In a recent study published in Nature, scientists established a new time-stratified ancestry analysis called Twigstats and used it to analyse ancient European whole genomes.

What is Twigstats?

Twigstats is a tool that helps researchers analyze genetic data to understand human ancestry. 

It is used to study genetic mutations over time to gain insights into historical events. 

It can provide new insights into the migration patterns, cultural transitions, and genetic makeup of ancient Europeans, especially from the Roman and Viking periods.

How does it work?

Analyzes genetic family trees: Twigstats looks at how mutations are shared between people to identify who they inherited their DNA from. 

Focuses on recent mutations: It looks at recent mutations to identify connections between people who lived closer together in time. 

Uses statistical languages: It uses statistical languages like R and C++ to analyze genetic data. 

Improves statistical power: It focuses on recent mutations to improve the statistical power of existing methods. 

Reduces statistical errors: It reduces statistical errors by focusing on recent mutations. 

Why is Twigstats significant for genetic research?

Analyze ancient DNA: It can analyze ancient DNA from prehistoric burials, mass graves, and war graves. 

Model ancestral populations: It can model the ancestry of populations across time, including the Iron Age, the Roman Empire, and the Viking Age. 

Identify migration patterns: It can identify waves of migration and admixture events. 

Understand population dynamics: It can help researchers understand how populations expanded, replaced, or mixed. 

Target specific historical periods: It can help researchers focus on recent mutations to understand events from specific historical periods. 

What techniques does Twigstats use for genetic analysis?

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) identify natural genetic variations but require high-quality DNA samples and are limited in resolving histories of closely related groups.

Haplotypes capture genetic information from shared DNA segments and rare variants, offering a more comprehensive view of ancestry by analyzing how individuals are genetically connected.

Genealogical Tree Inference analyzes modern and ancient genomes to understand the structure and locations of ancestral populations, providing insights into population demographics and migration patterns.

  Twigstats has helped researchers to understand:

• People moved across Europe during the Iron, Roman, and Viking ages. 
• Germanic-speaking people with Scandinavian ancestry expanded southward and eastward. 
• Iron Age central European ancestry spread into Scandinavia. 
• Ancestry patterns changed during the first millennium CE.

Way Forward

Twigstats is a tool that helps researchers analyze ancient DNA to understand the genetic history of populations. It provides a more precise way to measure genetic differences between groups, which helps researchers understand how people move across the world. 

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Source: 

The Hindu