Thursday, May 4, 2017

New Method For Obtaining DNA Of Neanderthals Without Fossils

Link:  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170427141708.htm

More Information on Neanderthals:  http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-neanderthalensis


DNA is a very fragile molecule, and it tends to break down quickly over time.  As a result, it can often be difficult, or even impossible, to find DNA of organisms that lived millions of years ago.  However, scientists have recently discovered a new method to obtain DNA samples from Neanderthals, even without any fossils.  They did this by collecting samples of cave sediments and searching them for mitochondrial DNA.  They were able to find the DNA of multiple species, one of which was Neanderthals.

This discovery has me very excited to find out what new information we will learn about ancient species.  I'm also curious as to how far back this method can retrieve DNA.  While I doubt that it will go back much further, due to the fragile nature of DNA, it is still exciting.

3 comments:

  1. Hopefully what scientists find could give us insights on our evolutionary past!

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  2. With this discovery hopefully scientists will be able to trace where humans and other ancestors started out and how we evolved.

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  3. A truly incredible find. I'm curious to see how they may be able to apply this technique to other uses (i.e., such as maybe even use it in Egyptian tombs of pharaohs). In addition to human and hominid DNA, it could be useful in tracking the evolutionary history of other species like wolves/domestic dogs.

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