Ancient DNA Reveals the Living Descendants of Enslaved People Through 23andMe

August 3, 2023

(Nature) – Starting in the 1770s, hundreds of enslaved and free African Americans lived and worked at an industrial iron forge in Maryland. Dozens died at the Catoctin Furnace, their remains and lives largely forgotten until 1979 when part of the site was excavated to make way for a highway. Now, in a landmark study, researchers have analysed DNA from more than two dozen people who were buried at the Catoctin Furnace and used that information to identify tens of thousands of living descendants whose data were in a consumer genetics database. (Read More)