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Rare gene-driven defects such as Down syndrome have occurred among human beings for many thousands of years, a new analysis of ancient DNA has revealed.

<p>An international team of researchers has analysed the DNA from a world-wide sample of nearly 10,000 ancient individuals to search for cases of Down Syndrome, an uncommon genetic condition caused by the presence of an additional copy of Chromosome 21. Scanning the genome data, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA) in Leipzig, Germany, found six children with Down Syndrome. Five of these children were buried more than 2,000 years ago and lived to, at most, one year of age. Although their lives were short, all of these children received a buria...

A new study scoured ~10,000 ancient genomes in search of trisomies, such as Down Syndrome. Combined with archeological analyses, the data reveal how these infants were perceived in ancient societies.

After sifting through DNA from almost 10,000 people from ancient and pre-modern societies, we have discovered six cases of Down syndrome in past human populations.

DNA analysis has revealed a higher-than-expected number of cases of Down syndrome in past human societies going back as far as 5,000 years.