SoS 251: Proteomics and Human Origins: Reconstructing the Past with Palesa Madupe & Becky Ackermann

This week on the Sausage of Science, Cara sits down with two trailblazing scholars shaping the future of paleoanthropology from the African continent outward. Dr. Palesa Madupe, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Copenhagen’s Globe Institute, shares her pioneering work on enamel proteomics—reconstructing protein sequences from Paranthropus robustus and other South African hominins to unravel questions of taxonomy, sex determination, and sexual dimorphism. Joining her is Professor Becky Ackermann of the University of Cape Town, co-director of the Human Evolution Research Institute (HERI), whose influential research on evolutionary processes, phenotypic variation, and human diversity is reframing our understanding of our evolutionary story. Together, they highlight how African-led research is reshaping the global narrative of human origins, one fossil and one protein at a time. ------------------------------ Find the paper discussed in this episode: Madupe, P. P., Koenig, C., Patramanis, I., Rüther, P. L., Hlazo, N., Mackie, M., ... & Cappellini, E. (2025). Enamel proteins reveal biological sex and genetic variability in southern African Paranthropus. Science, 388(6750), 969-973. DOI: 10.1126/science.adt9539 ------------------------------ Contact Dr. Madupe: palesa.madupe@sund.ku.dk Contact Dr. Ackermann: becky.ackermann@uct.ac.za Human Evolution Research Institute (HERI) website: https://www.heriuct.co.za/ ------------------------------ Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and Human Biology Association: Facebook: facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation/, Website: humbio.org, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc Cara Ocobock, Host, Website: sites.nd.edu/cara-ocobock/, Email:cocobock@nd.edu, Twitter:@CaraOcobock Cristina Gildee, SoS Co-Producer, HBA Junior Fellow Website: cristinagildee.org, E-mail: cgildee@uw.edu,