Scientists map out Neanderthal genome

In a development which could reveal the links between modern humans and their prehistoric cousins, scientists said yesterday they have mapped a first draft of the Neanderthal genome.

Researchers used DNA fragments extracted from three Croatian fossils to map out more than 60 percent of the entire Neanderthal genome by sequencing three billion bases of DNA.

"The Neanderthal genome sequence will clarify the evolutionary relationship between humans and Neanderthals as well as help identify those genetic changes that enabled modern humans to leave Africa and rapidly spread around the world," Germany's Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology said in a press release.