David Reich Lab
| Director | David Reich |
|---|---|
| Location | Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
| Affiliations | Harvard Medical School, Broad Institute |
| Website | reich.hms.harvard.edu |
The David Reich Lab is a research laboratory located within the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. Led by population geneticist David Reich, the lab is known for industrializing the fields of ancient DNA, population genetics, and human evolutionary genetics.[1] As of 2020 it had produced the majority of the published data for research into ancient DNA.[2]
Overview
[edit]The lab was established by David Reich, a professor at Harvard Medical School[3] and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. It focuses on analyzing ancient and modern human DNA to better understand population migrations, ancestry, and human evolution. The lab works closely with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and collaborates with researchers in archaeology, anthropology, linguistics, and genomics across the globe. Its aim is to create an "Ancient DNA Atlas of Humanity".[4]
Research Areas
[edit]Major areas of focus include:
- Ancient DNA: Recovery and analysis of DNA from ancient human remains.
- Human evolution: Study of interactions between modern humans and archaic hominins such as Neanderthals[5] and Denisovans.[6]
- Population genetics: Analysis of genetic variation to reconstruct historical demographic events.
- Computational genomics: Development of statistical and bioinformatic methods to analyze degraded DNA.
Major Contributions
[edit]The lab has made significant contributions to the understanding of global human history, including:
- Revealing complex patterns of migration into Europe and South Asia.[7]
- Mapping population histories across regions such as Africa,[8] Eurasia, Oceania,[9] and the Americas.
- Contributing to the study of the spread of Indo-European languages using ancient DNA.[10]
Criticism
[edit]In 2019, David Reich faced criticism following a New York Times Magazine article that highlighted his lab's prominent role in ancient DNA research.[11] Critics argued that the Reich Lab's rapid expansion and accumulation of ancient DNA samples led to concerns about monopolization of resources and underrepresentation of non-Western collaborators in research publications. Additionally, some scholars expressed unease over the lab's interpretations of genetic data, suggesting that certain conclusions might oversimplify complex population histories.[12] There is apprehension that such interpretations could inadvertently support outdated or harmful narratives about human populations.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ "Nature's 10". Nature. 528 (7583): 459–467. December 2015. Bibcode:2015Natur.528..459.. doi:10.1038/528459a. PMID 26701036. S2CID 4450003.
- ^ a b Preston, Douglas (2020-12-14). "The Skeletons at the Lake". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2025-05-31.
- ^ Harvard Medical School faculty page – David Reich
- ^ "Research". David Reich Labs official website.
- ^ Prüfer et al. 2014.
- ^ Reich et al. 2010.
- ^ Narasimhan et al. 2019.
- ^ Lipson et al. 2022.
- ^ Lipson et al. 2018.
- ^ Haak et al. 2015.
- ^ Lewis-Kraus, Gideon (17 January 2019). "Is Ancient DNA Research Revealing New Truths — or Falling Into Old Traps?". New York Times Magazine. Archived from the original on 16 November 2019.
- ^ Moser, Cody (2019-01-19). "David Reich and The New York Times". Culturologies. Retrieved 2025-05-31.
Papers
[edit]- Haak, Wolfgang; Lazaridis, Iosif; Patterson, Nick; Rohland, Nadin; Mallick, Swapan; Llamas, Bastien; Brandt, Guido; Nordenfelt, Susanne; Harney, Eadaoin; Stewardson, Kristin; Fu, Qiaomei; Mittnik, Alissa; Bánffy, Eszter; Economou, Christos; Francken, Michael; Friederich, Susanne; Garrido Pena, Rafael; Hallgren, Fredrik; Khartanovich, Valery; Khokhlov, Aleksandr; Kunst, Michael; Kuznetsov, Pavel; Meller, Harald; Mochalov, Oleg; Moiseyev, Vyacheslav; Nicklisch, Nicole; Pichler, Sandra L.; Risch, Roberto; Rojo Guerra, Manuel A.; Roth, Christina; Szécsényi-Nagy, Anna; Wahl, Joachim; Meyer, Matthias; Krause, Johannes; Brown, Dorcas; Anthony, David; Cooper, Alan; Alt, Kurt W.; Reich, David (June 2015). "Massive migration from the steppe was a source for Indo-European languages in Europe". Nature. 522 (7555): 207–211. arXiv:1502.02783. Bibcode:2015Natur.522..207H. doi:10.1038/nature14317. PMC 5048219. PMID 25731166.
- Lipson, Mark; Sawchuk, Elizabeth A.; Thompson, Jessica C.; Reich, David (2022-03-10). "Ancient DNA and deep population structure in sub-Saharan African foragers". Nature. 603 (7900): 290–296. Bibcode:2022Natur.603..290L. doi:10.1038/s41586-022-04430-9. PMC 8846075. PMID 35082436.
- Lipson, Mark; Skoglund, Pontus; Spriggs, Matthew; Reich, David (2018-04-02). "Population Turnover in Remote Oceania Shortly After Initial Settlement". Current Biology. 28 (7): 1157–1165.e7. Bibcode:2018CBio...28E1157L. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2018.02.051. PMC 5882562. PMID 29551494.
- Narasimhan, Vagheesh M.; Patterson, Nick; Moorjani, Priya; Rohland, Nadin; Mallick, Swapan; Lazaridis, Iosif (2019-09-06). "The formation of human populations in South and Central Asia". Science. 365 (6457): eaay7487. doi:10.1126/science.aat7487. PMC 6822619. PMID 31488661.
- Prüfer, Kay; Racimo, Fernando; Patterson, Nick; Jay, Flora; Reich, David; Pääbo, Svante (2014-01-02). "The complete genome sequence of a Neanderthal from the Altai Mountains". Nature. 505 (7481): 43–49. Bibcode:2014Natur.505...43P. doi:10.1038/nature12886. PMC 4031459. PMID 24352235.
- Reich, David; Green, Richard E.; Kircher, Martin; Krause, Johannes & Pääbo, Svante (December 2010). "Genetic history of an archaic hominin group from Denisova Cave in Siberia". Nature. 468 (7327): 1053–1060. Bibcode:2010Natur.468.1053R. doi:10.1038/nature09710. PMC 4306417. PMID 21179161.