Tag: tibet

Ancient DNA Study Uncovers Mysterious “Ghost” Lineage in Tibet

Discovery of a 7,100-Year-Old Genetic Enigma

A recent genomic analysis of over 100 ancient individuals from China has revealed a previously unknown “ghost” lineage, shedding light on the genetic diversity of early populations in the region. The findings, published on May 29 in the journal Science, center on a 7,100-year-old female skeleton unearthed at the Xingyi archaeological site in China’s Yunnan province.

The study, led by researchers including paleontologist Qiaomei Fu from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing, examined 127 ancient human genomes, most dating between 1,400 and 7,150 years ago. The oldest individual, a woman referred to as Xingyi_EN, provided crucial insights into an elusive ancestral group that may have contributed to modern Tibetan populations.

Tracing the Origins of Tibetans

One of the key questions in East Asian prehistory has been the origins of Tibetan populations. Previous research indicated that Tibetans possess a mix of northern East Asian ancestry and an unidentified genetic component—now potentially linked to the newly discovered ghost lineage.

Xingyi_EN, a hunter-gatherer from the Early Neolithic period, exhibited ancestry distinct from other East and South Asians. Instead, her DNA aligned more closely with a deeply diverged Asian population that had remained genetically isolated for millennia.

The Basal Asian Xingyi Lineage

The researchers identified Xingyi_EN as part of a previously unknown lineage, which they named the Basal Asian Xingyi lineage. This group is believed to have separated from other human populations at least 40,000 years ago and remained genetically distinct due to prolonged isolation.

Unlike Neanderthals or Denisovans—archaic humans known to have contributed DNA to modern populations—this ghost lineage represents a unique branch in human ancestry. “The possible isolation allowed this ancestry to persist without apparent admixture with other populations,” Fu explained in an email to Live Science.

Genetic Legacy in Modern Tibetans

At some point, descendants of the Basal Asian Xingyi lineage interbred with other East Asian groups, introducing their genetic material into the ancestral Tibetan gene pool. “The mixed population has lasted for quite a long time and contributed genes to some Tibetans today,” Fu noted.

However, the researchers caution that these conclusions are based on a single individual’s genome. Further studies with additional samples will be necessary to confirm the relationship between this ancient lineage and modern Tibetan populations.

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Ancient 15,000-Year-Old Viruses Seen in Melting Tibetan Glaciers

Ancient creatures are emerging from the cold storage of melting permafrost, almost like something out of a horror movie.

From incredibly preserved extinct megafauna like the woolly rhino, to the 40,000-year-old remains of a giant wolf, and bacteria over 750,000 years old.

Not all of these things are dead.

Centuries-old moss was able to spring back to life in the warmth of the laboratory. So too, incredibly, were tiny 42,000-year-old roundworms.

These fascinating glimpses of organisms from Earth’s long distant past are revealing the history of ancient ecosystems, including details of the environments in which they existed.

But the melt has also created some concerns about ancient viruses coming back to haunt us.

“Melting will not only lead to the loss of those ancient, archived microbes and viruses, but also release them to the environments in the future,” researchers explained in a study in 2021, led by first author and microbiologist Zhi-Ping Zhong from Ohio State University.

Thanks to metagenomics techniques and new methods for keeping their ice core samples sterilized, the researchers are able to get a better understanding of what exactly lies within the cold.

In the study, the team was able to identify an archive of dozens of unique 15,000-years-old viruses from the Guliya ice cap of the Tibetan Plateau, and gain insights into their functions.

“These glaciers were formed gradually, and along with dust and gases, many, many viruses were also deposited in that ice,” said Zhong. These microbes potentially represent those in the atmosphere at the time of their deposit, the team explained in their paper.

Past studies have shown microbial communities correlate with changes in dust and ion concentrations in the atmosphere, and can also indicate climate and environmental conditions at the time.

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THE CIA’S DESTABILISATION OF TIBET

The possibility of breaking China apart into separate regions, outside of Beijing’s influence, has been an integral part of American foreign policy ever since the end of the 1940s, when China exited Washington’s control following the communist revolution. 

The 1949 communist takeover of China was termed in imperialist language as “the loss of China” in Washington. China’s revolution was lamented by American politicians as a major blow to United States power, which it undoubtedly was, after China had been a Western client nation for many years. 

Soon thereafter the Harry Truman administration (1945–53), severely criticised for “losing China”, made concerted efforts to undermine America’s new rival. Between 1949 and 1951, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) increased the number of its operatives tenfold which were engaged in covert actions relating to China. (1) 

The CIA budget, for activities against China, reached 20 times greater than the sum of money expended on the 1953 US/British-backed overthrow of Mohammad Mosaddegh’s government in Iran. (2) 

Scanning maps of east Asia, US government strategists were inevitably drawn towards Tibet, in south-western China, as an area of critical importance. The Tibetan landmass, which is recognised internationally to be within China’s frontiers, is the highest in the world, and it has an average altitude of over 4,300 metres above sea level. At 1.2 million square kilometres in size, the region of Tibet is more than twice larger than France; but it doubles to 2.5 million square kilometres, by taking into account much of the surrounding Tibetan Plateau which is scarcely inhabited by humans. 

It should be noted, in modern history, that Tibet was under effective Chinese control for almost two centuries (from 1720–1912), during the Manchu-led Qing dynasty of China. 

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