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+--- Thread: Scientists Can Now Pull the DNA of Ancient Humans Out of Cave Dirt (/thread-3594.html)
Scientists Can Now Pull the DNA of Ancient Humans Out of Cave Dirt - C C - Apr 28, 2017
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/04/ancient-dna-sediment-neanderthal-denisovan/524433/
EXCERPT: [...] Viviane Slon from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and her colleagues have now managed to extract and sequence the DNA of ancient animals from sediment that’s up to 240,000 years old. By doing so, they can infer the presence of Neanderthals, Denisovans, and other extinct hominids without ever having to find their bones. “We were surprised by how well it works,” says Slon. “The success rates were amazing.” [...] Now that they know their techniques work, the team can check for hominid DNA in parts of the world where no fossils have been found, or where the historical presence of humans is unclear. For example, Shapiro wants to look at sediments across the Alaska routes that humans likely took on their way to colonizing the Americas. “This is a fantastically useful tool that will empower future archaeological research,” she says....
RE: Scientists Can Now Pull the DNA of Ancient Humans Out of Cave Dirt - Zinjanthropos - Apr 28, 2017
(Apr 28, 2017 03:07 AM)C C Wrote: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/04/ancient-dna-sediment-neanderthal-denisovan/524433/
EXCERPT: [...] Viviane Slon from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and her colleagues have now managed to extract and sequence the DNA of ancient animals from sediment that’s up to 240,000 years old. By doing so, they can infer the presence of Neanderthals, Denisovans, and other extinct hominids without ever having to find their bones. “We were surprised by how well it works,” says Slon. “The success rates were amazing.” [...] Now that they know their techniques work, the team can check for hominid DNA in parts of the world where no fossils have been found, or where the historical presence of humans is unclear. For example, Shapiro wants to look at sediments across the Alaska routes that humans likely took on their way to colonizing the Americas. “This is a fantastically useful tool that will empower future archaeological research,” she says....
If there's DNA in dirt, then why not rocks?
RE: Scientists Can Now Pull the DNA of Ancient Humans Out of Cave Dirt - C C - Apr 29, 2017
(Apr 28, 2017 08:06 PM)Zinjanthropos Wrote: If there's DNA in dirt, then why not rocks?
Now, actually is part of sedimentary mineral deposits. Was only "cave dirt" in terms of what the biological matter originally landed in or helped to create over time by accumulation.
Breaking news: "Scientists shake angry fists at pop-science's headline tweaking of information extracted from original published papers."
RE: Scientists Can Now Pull the DNA of Ancient Humans Out of Cave Dirt - Zinjanthropos - Apr 29, 2017
(Apr 29, 2017 12:19 AM)C C Wrote:(Apr 28, 2017 08:06 PM)Zinjanthropos Wrote: If there's DNA in dirt, then why not rocks?
Now, actually is part of sedimentary mineral deposits. Was only "cave dirt" in terms of what the biological matter originally landed in or helped to create over time by accumulation.
Breaking news: "Scientists shake angry fists at pop-science's headline tweaking of information extracted from original published papers."
Ever wonder just how many times an individual atom/particle has been part of a living organism over the last 3.8 billion years. I think that number could be staggering. Wouldn't it also be great if these little specks of matter could speak to us scientifically because they somehow record their (life) experiences and we're able to extract the data?