On Feb. 7, 2012, The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, in Leipzig, Germany, completed the genome sequence of a Denisovan, a representative of an Asian group of extinct humans related to Neandertals.

The Leipzig team developed sensitive novel techniques which allowed them to sequence every position in the Denisovan genome about 30 times over, using DNA extracted from less than 10 milligrams of the finger bone. This level of resolution was sufficient to establish the relationship of Denisovans to Neandertals and present-day humans.