Nucleic Acids Research · 1996 · 400 citations · 9 references
HumanitiesArchaeologyMolecular BiologyForensic AnthropologyPaleoethnobotanyVertebrate PaleontologyAncient DnaBiomolecular ArchaeologyDegraded Dna AnalysisDna DamageDna SequencingBurialDna Extraction From Degraded SamplesDna Sequence AnalysisOxidative Base ModificationsOxidative Dna Base ModificationsOxidative Dna DamageOxidative Dna Damage AssaysSkeletal Dna Analysis
Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was used to determine the amounts of eight oxidative base modifications in DNA extracted from 11 specimens of bones and soft tissues, ranging in age from 40 to >50 000 years. Among the compounds assayed hydantoin derivatives of pyrimidines were quantitatively dominant. From five of the specimens endogenous ancient DNA sequences could be amplified by PCR. The DNA from these specimens contained substantially lower amounts of hydantoins than the six specimens from which no DNA could be amplified. Other types of damage, e.g. oxidation products of purines, did not correlate with the inability to retrieve DNA sequences. Furthermore, all samples with low amounts of damage and from which DNA could be amplified stemmed from regions where low temperatures have prevailed throughout the burial period of the specimens.
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