From million-year-old dinosaur remains to ‘resurrecting’ mammoths, stories in the news about ancient DNA make it seem as though Jurassic Park is just around the corner. But ancient DNA is also an important tool for viewing the past. The only problem is that it’s not quite as abundant or easy to use as some think. …Continue readingCan we really extract ancient DNA from dinosaurs?
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Celebrating a decade of ancient human DNA
Just over a decade ago, a ball of 4000-year-old human hair tangled up in a whalebone comb ignited the first ever reconstruction of the ancient human genome. Since then, our understanding of ancient human DNA has exploded. Despite being discovered in the 1980s, the technology to sequence DNA from the hair wasn’t available until 2012, …Continue readingCelebrating a decade of ancient human DNA
Early humans were promiscuous
Turns out that our ancient ancestors weren’t exactly shy when it came to trying new things. A new analysis has revealed that as the ancestors of modern humans (homo sapiens) moved out of Africa and across Eurasia, they would try get it on with just about anyone they came across. In fact, genetic analysis has …Continue readingEarly humans were promiscuous