There are enough fossils showing distinctive features to rule out the possibility these are unusual or aberrant modern humans.

Our role is to imagine products that don’t exist and guide them to life.

The discovery that early humans could have existed this far north this long ago was startling.

Our role is to imagine products that don't exist and guide them to life.

There are enough fossils showing distinctive features to rule out the possibility these are unusual or aberrant modern humans

There's about 1,000 times more mitochondrial DNA than nuclear DNA in our cells, so it's much easier to pick up,

DNA gets everywhere. So when we're dealing with a sample and you find it's got human DNA in it - is that DNA from the fossil, or is it actually DNA from the person who unearthed it?

We've now got about 10 Neanderthal specimens of around 40-50,000 years old that have yielded DNA that is clearly distinct from anyone alive today.

Neanderthals are three times as different from us as we all are from each other,