Geneticists reconstruct DNA of man who died 200 years ago

Researchers in Iceland have reconstructed the partial genome of a remarkable man who died in 1827, after escaping slavery and becoming the first person of African heritage to live in the Nordic country.

The whereabouts of Hans Jonatan’s remains are unknown – but, using DNA samples from 182 of his descendants, geneticists with deCODE have traced his family back to distinct areas of West Africa.

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The study reconstructs Jonatan’s maternal genome, revealing where his mother or family were before they were likely abducted to be sold into the slave trade.

While this is truly an amazing feat, according to Robin Allaby of the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom, it “seems to be the sort of analysis you could only do under particular circumstances when an immigrant genome is of a very rare type.”

Despite these limitations, deCODE believes the technique could have extensive applications.

 

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