--- title: DNA Evidence Sheds Light on When Humans First Left Africa description: Researchers have found evidence to suggest that the ancestry of all non-Africans can be traced back to a single migration out of Africa canonical: https://time.com/4504134/dna-discovery-humans-africa/ author: Suyin Haynes article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-22T14:36:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T00:46:04.808Z article:section: Science og:title: DNA Evidence Sheds Light on When Humans First Left Africa og:description: Scientists unlock part of the puzzle to discover where we came from og:url: https://time.com/4504134/dna-discovery-humans-africa/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: DNA Evidence Sheds Light on When Humans First Left Africa twitter:description: Scientists unlock part of the puzzle to discover where we came from twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # DNA Evidence Sheds Light on When Humans First Left Africa by [Suyin Haynes](https://time.com/author/suyin-haynes/) ## Suyin Haynes Sep 22, 2016 2:36 PM UTC by [Suyin Haynes](https://time.com/author/suyin-haynes/) ## Suyin Haynes Sep 22, 2016 2:36 PM UTC Researchers have found evidence to suggest that the ancestry of all non-Africans can be traced back to a single migration out of Africa at least 50,000 years ago. Modern humans [evolved](http://time.com/4126011/lucy-australopithecus-discovery/) in Africa roughly 200,000 years ago, but the question of how our species went on to populate the rest of the globe has mystified scientists for decades. In a series of genetic analyses [published](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-37408014) on Wednesday, researchers believe they have found an answer. In analyses published in the academic journal[_Nature_](http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature18964.html), three separate teams of geneticists surveyed DNA collected from cultures around the globe, many for the first time, and concluded that all non-Africans today trace their ancestry to a single population that emerged from Africa between 50,000 and 80,000 years ago. The DNA of indigenous populations is essential to understanding human history and mapping genomes, [many geneticists believe](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/22/science/ancient-dna-human-history.html?%5Fr=0). Yet until now, scientists have sequenced entire genomes from very few people outside population centers like Europe and China. Dr. Luca Pagani, a researcher behind one of the projects, told the BBC that “all three papers all reach the same conclusions. That in Eurasians and also \[Papua New Guineans\], the majority of their genomes come from the same major migration.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4504134/dna-discovery-humans-africa/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4504134/dna-discovery-humans-africa/"},"headline":"DNA Evidence Sheds Light on When Humans First Left Africa","datePublished":"2016-09-22T14:36:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:46:04.808Z","description":"Scientists unlock part of the puzzle to discover where we came from","url":"https://time.com/4504134/dna-discovery-humans-africa/","keywords":["DNA","Africa","Science topic","migration"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Suyin Haynes","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/suyin-haynes/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/dna/","name":"DNA"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4504134/dna-discovery-humans-africa/","name":"DNA Evidence Sheds Light on When Humans First Left Africa"}}]}] ```