Reading DNA ancestry portraits against the grain

Abstract

In recent decades, developments in the field of molecular anthropology have led scientists to regard the genome as a kind of biological archive, which can give access to aspects of human histories that are not retained in collective memory or written records. It has been proposed, for instance, that genetic studies may contribute to shedding light on the regional and ethnic origins of Africans displaced by the transatlantic slave trade, helping to restore ancestral links that were forcibly er...