"Stalactites, Steve!"
Yes.
"Bats!"
Yes.
"Water!"
Yes.
"Dirt!"
Yes.
"DNA!"
Gets a strange look from the host, checks the results. Buzzzzz! Nope, DNA didn't match the survey.
But DNA is in caves, especially in the soil. Some of it comes from our fully-human Neanderthal ancestors, too.
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Credit: Morguefile / Koan |
New techniques are allowing scientists to extract ancient DNA from cave soil. But is it really as old as claimed?To read the rest, click on "Ancient DNA Recovered from Caves".
DNA has a lifetime. It decays. That’s why researchers do not consider it likely that dinosaur DNA will ever be recovered sufficient to make “Jurassic Park” a reality. Now that DNA is being recovered from cave soil where early humans lived—without the need for bones—will the evolutionary dates drive the interpretation, or will known decay rates lead scientists to reconsider their assumptions about how old it is? We examine recent news reports for clues.
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