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Genome Sequencing of Sitting Bull

Sitting Bull & William F. Cody

As a follow up to the post I did yesterday ("King Tut's Parents Were What?"), I thought I'd talk more about genetic testing on dead people. Science News ran a story today saying that Sitting Bull, of Little Big Horn upset/General Custer demise fame, will be "the first ancient, non-frozen Native American to have his genome sequenced."

The genomic sequencing of Sitting Bull is part of a larger initiative by Cristina Valdiosera and Eske Willerslev from the University of Copenhagen to use new techniques to sequence genes from ancient samples.  The ambitious project will help piece together how populations of people arrived where they are today.

photo via Flickr @cooling