Concerns about ancient DNA sequences reported from a Late Pleistocene individual from Southeast Asia.

Daniel Tabin, Nick Patterson, Matthew Mah, David Reich

Abstract readLetter

In one paragraph

Article in Current biology : CB, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

1citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

Addendum to Ancient DNA data from Mengzi Ren, a Late Pleistocene individual from Southeast Asia, cannot be reliably used in population genetic analysis.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025
Article

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Daniel TabinDepartment of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Electronic address: dtabin@g.harvard.edu.

Nick PattersonDepartment of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.

Matthew MahBroad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston, MA 02115, USA.

David ReichDepartment of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: reich@genetics.med.harvard.edu.

Funding

Solving ascertainment bias in ancient DNA using Ultima Genomics sequencingR01HG012287 · NHGRI · HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL · PI REICH, DAVID E · 2021 to 2025

$2.7M

Howard Hughes Medical InstituteNHGRI NIH HHS R01 HG012287

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In a 2022 Current Biology paper, Zhang et al.

Indexed as

DNA, AncientFossilsAsia, SoutheasternFemaleGenetics, PopulationHumansSequence Analysis, DNADNA, Ancient

Identifiers

PMID40132550

DOI10.1016/j.cub.2024.10.012

PMCPMC12037273

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.