Ancient DNA Analysis: Breakthrough Technologies 2023

Ancient DNA Analysis: Breakthrough Technologies 2023Show more

Hey everyone! It's Wade here, your Science Maniatics correspondent for today. Have you ever heard of paleogenetics? It's a fancy way of saying scientists are studying ancient DNA to learn more about our past.
In the past, scientists had a hard time studying ancient teeth and bones because they were often too damaged to analyze. But now, new techniques and methods make it possible to study even tiny traces of DNA found in dirt. This has led to a big boom in studying ancient DNA.
Scientists can now analyze DNA from ancient remains that were once thought to be too damaged to study. This has opened the door to new discoveries and has led to a better understanding of our past. In November, a scientist named Svante Pääbo won the Nobel Prize for his work in this field. Thanks to ancient DNA analysis, scientists have discovered two extinct species of humans, Homo luzonensis and Denisovans, and learned that modern humans have some of their DNA. We now have whole genome data for over 5,000 ancient human individuals, which is way more than we had just 10 years ago.