Analysis of ancient bone DNA: techniques and applications
- 30 September 1991
- journal article
- review article
- Published by The Royal Society in Philosophical Transactions Of The Royal Society B-Biological Sciences
- Vol. 333 (1268), 399-407
- https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.1991.0090
Abstract
The analysis of DNA from ancient bone has numerous applications in archaeology and molecular evolution. Significant amounts of genetic information can be recovered from ancient bone: mitochondrial DNA sequences of 800 base pairs have been amplified from a 750-year-old human femur by using the polymerase chain reaction. DNA recovery varies considerably between bone samples and is not dependent on the age of the specimen. We present the results of a study on a small number of bones from a mediaeval and a 17th-century cemetery in Abingdon showing the relation between gross preservation, microscopic preservation and DNA recovery.Keywords
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