PROFESSOR BRYAN SYKES is a Fellow of Wolfson College and Emeritus Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Oxford. Originally a medical geneticist specialising in inherited bone disease, Prof Sykes has in recent years been researching what DNA can tell us about the human past. His work has encompassed the first recovery of DNA from ancient bone, the colonisation of Polynesia, the fate of the Neanderthals, the early settlement of Britain and the link between genetics and surnames. He is the founder and chairman of Oxford Ancestors, which helps individuals explore their genetic roots using DNA.