David Reich Lab
{{Infobox research institute
| name = David Reich Lab
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| established =
| founder = David Reich
| director = David Reich
| city = Boston, Massachusetts
| country = United States
| affiliation = Harvard Medical School, Broad Institute
| website = [https://reich.hms.harvard.edu reich.hms.harvard.edu]
}}
The David Reich Lab is a research laboratory located within the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. Led by population geneticist David Reich, the lab is internationally recognized for industrializing the fields of ancient DNA, population genetics, and human evolutionary genetics.{{cite journal|title=Nature's 10|journal=Nature|date=December 2015|volume=528|issue=7583|pages=459–467|doi=10.1038/528459a|pmid=26701036|bibcode=2015Natur.528..459. |s2cid=4450003|doi-access=free}} As of 2020 it had produced the majority of the published data for research into ancient DNA.{{cite magazine |last=Preston |first=Douglas |title=The Skeletons at the Lake |magazine=The New Yorker |date=2020-12-14 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/12/14/the-skeletons-at-the-lake |access-date=2025-05-31}}
Overview
The lab was established by David Reich, a professor at Harvard Medical School[https://genetics.hms.harvard.edu/faculty-staff/david-emil-reich Harvard Medical School faculty page – David Reich] and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. It focuses on analyzing ancient and modern human DNA to better understand population migrations, ancestry, and human evolution. The lab works closely with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and collaborates with researchers in archaeology, anthropology, linguistics, and genomics across the globe. Its aim is to create an "Ancient DNA Atlas of Humanity".{{cite web|url=https://reich.hms.harvard.edu/research|website=David Reich Labs official website|title=Research}}
Research Areas
Major areas of focus include:
- Ancient DNA (aDNA): Recovery and analysis of DNA from ancient human remains.
- Human Evolution: Study of interactions between modern humans and archaic hominins such as Neanderthals{{sfn|Prüfer|Racimo|Patterson|Jay|2014}} and Denisovans.{{sfn|Reich|Green|Kircher|Krause|Pääbo|2010}}
- Population Genetics: Analysis of genetic variation to reconstruct historical demographic events.
- Computational Genomics: Development of statistical and bioinformatic methods to analyze degraded DNA.
Major Contributions
The lab has made significant contributions to the understanding of global human history, including:
- Revealing complex patterns of migration into Europe and South Asia.{{sfn|Narasimhan|Patterson|Moorjani|Rohland|2019}}
- Mapping population histories across regions such as Africa,{{sfn|Lipson|Sawchuk|Thompson|Reich|2022}} Eurasia, Oceania,{{sfn|Lipson|Skoglund|Spriggs|Reich|2018}} and the Americas.
- Contributing to the study of the spread of Indo-European languages using ancient DNA.{{sfn|Haak|Lazaridis|Patterson|Rohland|2015}}
Collaborations and Impact
The lab collaborates with hundreds of researchers worldwide, including archaeologists, museum curators, and Indigenous communities. It advocates for ethical handling of human remains and transparent research practices. Its interdisciplinary work has significantly impacted archaeology, linguistics, and anthropology.
Criticism and Ethics
In 2019, David Reich faced criticism following a New York Times Magazine article that highlighted his lab's prominent role in ancient DNA research.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/magazine/ancient-dna-paleogenomics.html|title=Is Ancient DNA Research Revealing New Truths — or Falling Into Old Traps?|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116135535/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/magazine/ancient-dna-paleogenomics.html|url-status=live|archive-date=16 November 2019 |newspaper=New York Times Magazine|first=Gideon |last=Lewis-Kraus|date=17 January 2019}} Critics argued that the Reich Lab's rapid expansion and accumulation of ancient DNA samples led to concerns about monopolization of resources and underrepresentation of non-Western collaborators in research publications. Additionally, some scholars expressed unease over the lab's interpretations of genetic data, suggesting that certain conclusions might oversimplify complex population histories{{cite web |last=Moser |first=Cody |title=David Reich and The New York Times |url=https://culturologies.wordpress.com/2019/01/19/david-reich-and-the-new-york-times/ |website=Culturologies |date=2019-01-19 |access-date=2025-05-31}}. There is apprehension that such interpretations could inadvertently support outdated or harmful narratives about human populations.
References
{{reflist}}
=Papers=
- {{cite journal |last1=Haak |first1=Wolfgang |last2=Lazaridis |first2=Iosif |last3=Patterson |first3=Nick |last4=Rohland |first4=Nadin |last5=Mallick |first5=Swapan |last6=Llamas |first6=Bastien |last7=Brandt |first7=Guido |last8=Nordenfelt |first8=Susanne |last9=Harney |first9=Eadaoin |last10=Stewardson |first10=Kristin |last11=Fu |first11=Qiaomei |last12=Mittnik |first12=Alissa |last13=Bánffy |first13=Eszter |last14=Economou |first14=Christos |last15=Francken |first15=Michael |last16=Friederich |first16=Susanne |last17=Garrido Pena |first17=Rafael |last18=Hallgren |first18=Fredrik |last19=Khartanovich |first19=Valery |last20=Khokhlov |first20=Aleksandr |last21=Kunst |first21=Michael |last22=Kuznetsov |first22=Pavel |last23=Meller |first23=Harald |last24=Mochalov |first24=Oleg |last25=Moiseyev |first25=Vyacheslav |last26=Nicklisch |first26=Nicole |last27=Pichler |first27=Sandra L. |last28=Risch |first28=Roberto |last29=Rojo Guerra |first29=Manuel A. |last30=Roth |first30=Christina |last31=Szécsényi-Nagy |first31=Anna |last32=Wahl |first32=Joachim |last33=Meyer |first33=Matthias |last34=Krause |first34=Johannes |last35=Brown |first35=Dorcas |last36=Anthony |first36=David |last37=Cooper |first37=Alan |last38=Alt |first38=Kurt W. |last39=Reich |first39=David |title=Massive migration from the steppe was a source for Indo-European languages in Europe |journal=Nature |volume=522 |issue=7555 |pages=207–211 |date=June 2015 |doi=10.1038/nature14317 |pmid=25731166 |pmc=5048219 |arxiv=1502.02783 |bibcode=2015Natur.522..207H}}
- {{cite journal |last1=Lipson |first1=Mark |last2=Sawchuk |first2=Elizabeth A. |last3=Thompson |first3=Jessica C. |last4=Reich |first4=David |title=Ancient DNA and deep population structure in sub-Saharan African foragers |journal=Nature |volume=603 |pages=290–296 |date=2022-03-10 |issue=7900 |doi=10.1038/s41586-022-04430-9 |pmid=35082436 |pmc=8846075|bibcode=2022Natur.603..290L }}
- {{cite journal |last1=Lipson |first1=Mark |last2=Skoglund |first2=Pontus |last3=Spriggs |first3=Matthew |last4=Reich |first4=David |title=Population Turnover in Remote Oceania Shortly After Initial Settlement |journal=Current Biology |volume=28 |issue=7 |pages=1157–1165.e7 |date=2018-04-02 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2018.02.051 |pmid=29551494 |pmc=5882562|bibcode=2018CBio...28E1157L }}
- {{cite journal |last1=Narasimhan |first1=Vagheesh M. |last2=Patterson |first2=Nick |last3=Moorjani |first3=Priya |last4=Rohland |first4=Nadin |last5=Mallick |first5=Swapan |last6=Lazaridis |first6=Iosif |title=The formation of human populations in South and Central Asia |journal=Science |volume=365 |issue=6457 |pages=eaay7487 |date=2019-09-06 |doi=10.1126/science.aat7487 |pmid=31488661 |pmc=6822619}}
- {{cite journal |last1=Prüfer |first1=Kay |last2=Racimo |first2=Fernando |last3=Patterson |first3=Nick |last4=Jay |first4=Flora |last5=Reich |first5=David |last6=Pääbo |first6=Svante |title=The complete genome sequence of a Neanderthal from the Altai Mountains |journal=Nature |volume=505 |issue=7481 |pages=43–49 |date=2014-01-02 |doi=10.1038/nature12886 |pmid=24352235 |pmc=4031459|bibcode=2014Natur.505...43P }}
- {{cite journal |last1=Reich |first1=David |last2=Green |first2=Richard E. |last3=Kircher |first3=Martin |last4=Krause |first4=Johannes |last5=Pääbo |first5=Svante |title=Genetic history of an archaic hominin group from Denisova Cave in Siberia |journal=Nature |volume=468 |issue=7327 |pages=1053–1060 |date=December 2010 |doi=10.1038/nature09710 |pmid=21179161 |pmc=4306417 |bibcode=2010Natur.468.1053R |name-list-style=amp}}
{{coord missing|Massachusetts}}
Category:Genetics or genomics research institutions