April
19
/ 2021
Utilizing a new technique that allows for more precise analysis of ancient DNA, scientists have achieved a revolutionary breakthrough in the field of paleogenetics. For the first time, they’ve been able to retrieve intact and identifiable samples of Neanderthal nuclear DNA from deeply-buried sediment, which was removed from caves in northern Spain and Siberia. This remarkable achievement emerged from the work of a team of evolutionary geneticists led by Benjamin Vernot and Matthias Meyer from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology ( MPI-EVA). Previously, it had only been possible to extract such material from fossilized teeth and bones. Only 18 Neanderthal nuclear DNA samples have ever been recovered in this way, which is why this new breakthrough in DNA-extraction-and-analysis
