Ancient DNA
hideAncient DNA can be loosely described as any DNA recovered from biological samples that have not been preserved specifically for later DNA analyses. Examples include the analysis of DNA recovered from archaeological and historical skeletal material, mummified tissues, archival collections of non-frozen medical specimens, preserved plant remains, ice and permafrost cores, Holocene plankton in marine and lake sediments, and so on. Unlike modern genetic analyses, ancient DNA studies are characterised by low quality DNA. This places limits on what analyses can achieve. Furthermore, due to degradation of the DNA molecules, a process which correlates loosely with factors such as time, temperature and presence of free water, upper limits exist beyond which no DNA is deemed likely to survive. Current estimates suggest that in optimal environments, i.e environments which are very cold, such as permafrost or ice, an upper limit of max 1 Million years exists. As such, early studies that reported recovery of much older DNA, for example, from Cretaceous dinosaur remains, have been proven to be wrong, with results stemming from sample or extract contamination, as opposed to authentic extracted DNA.
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News tagged with ancient dna
Europe's first farmers replaced their Stone Age hunter-gatherer forerunners
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Sep 03, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- DNA study suggests that further waves of prehistoric immigration are waiting to be discovered. Central and northern Europe's first farmers were immigrants with barely any ancestral ties to the modern population, ...
Scientists 'rebuild' giant moa using ancient DNA
Jul 01, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have performed the first DNA-based reconstruction of the giant extinct moa bird, using prehistoric feathers recovered from caves and rock shelters in New Zealand.
Hair of Tasmanian Tiger Yields Genes of Extinct Species
Biology /
Jan 12, 2009 |
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All the genes that the exotic Tasmanian Tiger inherited only from its mother will be revealed by an international team of scientists in a research paper to be published on 13 January 2009 in the online edition ...
Giant bird feces records pre-human New Zealand
Biology /
Jan 12, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A treasure trove of information about pre-human New Zealand has been found in faeces from giant extinct birds, buried beneath the floor of caves and rock shelters for thousands of years.
DNA study sheds new light on horse evolution
Dec 10, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Ancient DNA retrieved from extinct horse species from around the world has challenged one of the textbook examples of evolution - the fossil record of the horse family Equidae over the past ...
Scientists nail quail mystery
Oct 23, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A Massey biology researcher has used DNA analysis to prove quail on Tiritiri Matangi Island are Australian and not remnants of an extinct New Zealand species.
Ancient bison genetic treasure trove for farmers
Oct 20, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Genetic information from an extinct species of bison preserved in permafrost for thousands of years could help improve modern agricultural livestock and breeding programs, according to University ...
DNA from old insects -- no need to destroy the specimen
Apr 01, 2009 |
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In a new study published April 1 in the online, open-access, peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE, ancient DNA (aDNA) is retrieved from various insect remains without destruction of the specimens.
Scientists present the largest-to-date genetic snapshot of Iceland 1,000 years ago
Jan 16, 2009 |
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Scientists at deCODE genetics have completed the largest study of ancient DNA from a single population ever undertaken. Analyzing mitochondrial DNA, which is passed from mother to offspring, from 68 skeletal remains, the ...
Mystery about domestication of horse has been unravelled -- now location and time are proofed
Apr 23, 2009 |
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Wild horses were domesticated in the Ponto-Caspian steppe region (today Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Romania) in the 3rd millennium B.C. Despite the pivotal role horses have played in the history of human societies, the process ...
Understanding extinct microbes may influence the state of modern human health
Jan 05, 2009 |
4 / 5 (4) |
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The study of ancient microbes may not seem consequential, but such pioneering research at the University of Oklahoma has implications for the state of modern human health. Cecil Lewis, assistant professor in the Department ...
