Extended Wallenberg Fellowship for Carina Schlebusch


Carina’s project, “Prehistoric DNA reveals the spread of agriculture,” will continue thanks to the prolonged Knut and Alice Wallenberg Academy grant.

Carina Schlebusch is analyzing the DNA of prehistoric farmers from different parts of Africa to map how cultivation and herding technology spread south of the Sahara.

According to Carina, “Genetics is a fantastic tool for exploring human history”. It allows her to map the DNA of 150 prehistoric humans from different times and regions south of the Sahara. The results will be compared with other prehistoric individuals whose DNA is already known. From a historical perspective, it is important to know where people came from and what the migration routes led to.


  • Mattias Jakobsson receives an award from the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences of Uppsala

    Mattias Jakobsson receives an award from the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences of Uppsala

    The 2026 prize for an interdisciplinary achievement of outstanding quality is awarded to Mattias Jakobsson for his distinguished research into human origins and prehistory. By linking Stone Age genomic data with archaeology and linguistics, Jakobsson has shown that there were different populations that engaged in farming, and hunting and gathering. Read more about the Royal…

  • Gut microbes that trace ancient human journeys

    Gut microbes that trace ancient human journeys

    The newest piece in Nature’s News & Views, co-authored by our PI, Carina Schlebusch and Maja Vukovikj from Human Evolution Program at Uppsala University discusses the study by Carter et al. exploring what our gut microbiomes can tell us about human population history. Humans have never travelled alone. When our ancestors spread out of Africa…

  • The unknown origins of humans on Swedish radio

    Mattias Jakobsson was featured on Swedish Radio’s morning program (Förmiddag i P1) today, 29 Sept 2026. His conversation with Nicke Nordmark, the program leader, is available at: https://www.sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/manniskans-okanda-ursprung (in Swedish). They talked about Homo Sapiens, Neanderthals, and Denisovans and their coexistence; the unknown DNA in our genes; and the possibility that humans as we know…