Medieval Mongolian aDNA PMD benchmark

AI interpretationAI-generated

Two medieval Mongol genomes test ancient DNA damage correction methods.

This study compares three damage correction methods on ancient DNA from two medieval Mongolian individuals, ORT15 and ORT16, from Oortsog Ovoo (13th-14th century CE). It uses matched full-UDG and non-UDG libraries to assess allele support, site retention, imputation agreement, and relatedness. Genetic evidence supports a parent-offspring relationship. No single method performed best across all measures, highlighting trade-offs in ancient DNA analysis.

• Genetic evidence supports a parent-offspring relationship between ORT15 and ORT16.
• No correction method (terminal trimming, mapDamage2 rescaling, bamRefine masking) performed best across all metrics.
• Both individuals share mitochondrial haplogroup D4o1, suggesting maternal relatedness.

Sample interpretation

The dataset includes two medieval Mongolian individuals from Oortsog Ovoo, dated to the 13th-14th centuries CE. Both have whole-genome sequencing data from petrous bone, with matched full-UDG and non-UDG libraries. They belong to the Mongol Empire cultural context. Both carry mitochondrial haplogroup D4o1. No Y-chromosome haplogroups were resolved from the site samples.

For genealogy enthusiasts

For ancestry enthusiasts, this study shows that ancient DNA damage correction is not one-size-fits-all. When interpreting medieval Mongol genomes, especially from UDG-treated libraries, understanding method limitations helps avoid overconfidence in fine-scale ancestry or relatedness claims.