An international team of researchers has recreated for the first time the nearly complete genome of a human who died in 1827. Since there was no tissue left for taking DNA samples, scientists studied the genetic material from his offspring. The article of scientists was published in the journal Nature Genetics. This was announced in a press release on the MedicalXpress website.
The DNA belonged to a black slave named Hans Jonatan, who was born in a Danish colony on the island of Santa Cruz in the Caribbean. Subsequently, he was able to escape to Iceland, where there were no other people of African descent. This made his genome unique. It is known that on the island he was treated hospitably, he got married and became the father of three children.
Scientists analyzed Iceland's genealogical databases and found 182 descendants of Jonathan, each with a small portion of their ancestor's genome. This allowed them to recreate most of the former slave's genome, as well as roughly determine his ancestry. Researchers believe that his mother was African American and his father was white European.
