Qatari people carry genetic trace of early migrants out of Africa

Shards of ancient DNA have been preserved in genomes for 60,000 years

COLD SPRING HARBOR, N.Y. — Genetic heirlooms of the some of the first modern humans to migrate out of Africa have been passed down to modern Qataris.

Located on the Arabian Peninsula, Qatar would have been an ideal stop for humans migrating out of Africa, said Juan Rodriguez-Flores, a computational geneticist at the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City.