ancient DNA

A 400,000-year-old mitochondrial genome adds new twists to scientists’ picture of early human evolution.

In lab experiments, bacteria usurp small, damaged fragments of DNA, including those from a 43,000-year-old woolly mammoth.  

New analysis suggests that domestic dogs evolved from European wolves that interacted with human hunter-gatherers.

An analysis of ancient DNA from a 24,000-year-old Siberian skeleton generates a new model for the original peopling of the Western Hemisphere.

Ancient-DNA researchers have long clashed over work on Egyptian mummies, but next-gen sequencing might resolve their debates.

Peek inside the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Italy, where researchers are unravelling the DNA of centuries-old mummies.

By sequencing the genome of a 700,000-year-old horse, researchers have pushed back the time of DNA survival by almost an order of magnitude.

Some question the supposition that viable cells and DNA will be found in a remarkably preserved carcass, purported to harbor fresh muscle tissue and flowing blood.

Researchers use DNA from ancient tooth tartar to chart changes in the bacterial communities that have lived in human mouths for 8,000 years.

Researchers read the marks of intense warfare and conquest in the genes of ancient native North Americans.

A previously unknown human ancestor may have coexisted with Neanderthals and early modern humans.

University ponders how to replace director of its ancient DNA lab, who quit under a cloud.