Departmental News

Posted:  Apr 18, 2018 - 12:00am

Ongoing research by Associate Professor Heather Edgar, Alumnus Corey Ragsdale, and Cathy Willermet (Central Michigan University) was part of the focus of a recent article in Science entitled Latin America’s Lost Histories Revealed in Modern DNA. The UNM-based team is investigating the effects of Spanish conquest on the population of Mexico City. Using a combination of standard and cutting edge research techniques, the investigators are looking at how admixture of Native American, European, and African individuals changed the population over time. They are also investigating how the Castas system, the way that Spanish rulers organized people according to their parentage, shaped the structure of wealth and health among different groups of people. To read the full article, click here