Mummy DNA unravels ancestry of ancient Egyptians

Abstract

The tombs of ancient Egypt have yielded golden collars and ivory bracelets, but another treasure - human DNA - has proved elusive. Now, scientists have captured sweeping genomic information from Egyptian mummies. It reveals that mummies were closely related to ancient Middle Easterners, hinting that northern Africans might have different genetic roots from people south of the Sahara desert.