The MA-1 project was among the most ambitious ancient genome analyses attempted at the time of its publication.

The results were published in Nature in 2014, in a paper titled “Upper Palaeolithic Siberian genome reveals dual ancestry of Native Americans.”

The title told the story.

But only the analysis inside it showed how extraordinary that story actually was.

What The Genome Said

The MA-1 genome was a draft genome — not a complete sequence at the level of coverage that modern clinical genomics produces, but sufficient for the population genetic analyses that the study required.

Three distinct types of genetic material were analyzed.